According to the National Council on Aging, there are more than 25 million Americans living in poverty over age 55. These seniors are living on an annual income that is at or below the federal poverty level. According to https://aspe.hhs.gov, the federal poverty income level in 2021 for a single individual is $12,880. However, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities claims 97% of seniors receive social security and 43% of seniors living along, leaving them only depending on their total income from social security. The seniors struggle to have enough money to afford food, clothing, transportation, housing, and other necessary needs. 

Montgomery County, Kentucky offers affordable public housing to low-income seniors within the community. Three of the senior public housing apartments that are available in Montgomery County, KY are Montgomery Square Apartments, Main Cross Apartments, and Wood Hill Apartment. All three senior public housing have been a community partner with Kentucky State University SNAP-Ed program for the past three years. During the past 3 years, KSU SNAP-Ed assistant, Jessica Reed would conduct programming at each location. The programming would be in-person weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly to meet the needs of the seniors. The programming would discuss the importance of a healthy lifestyle. The seniors would be engaged with each programming by participating in physical activities, food bingo, Healthy Choices Lessons, and helping prepare a healthy tasty recipe to sample.  The seniors looked forward to each programming, spent precious time together, built common goals, and strong relationship to become successful. However, due to an increased risk of Covid-19 each location put all in-person programming on hold in March 2020.   

In April 2020 the Montgomery County SNAP-Ed assistant continued reaching out to all three senior apartment buildings by social media, newsletters, and personal phone calls, meeting the need of the seniors that would normally attend in-person programming. The SNAP assistant continued to raise a garden for one senior apartment building due to spacing and codes issues. The assistant would then drop off fresh produce to the apartment complex. Ms. Johnson is a senior that lives at Main Cross Apartments. She has attended numerous in-person programming and participated in social media, newsletters, and personal messages to reach her healthy goals. Ms. Johnson has changed her eating patterns, to add more fresh produce within her diet along with increasing physical activity. Ms. Johnson has lowered her risk of chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and some cancer during this pandemic. She has reduced her overall weight by losing over 60 pounds and dropping four pant sizes. She has encouraged others within Main Cross Apartments to set healthy goals and work towards them. She informs everyone how much better she feels and that if she could do it, anyone could do it. Ms. Johnson is the second senior from the SNAP-Ed programming at Main Cross Apartments to improve their overall well-being during the pandemic.