The food pantry at the MLK Center.From Newport to Stonington, Ct. and beyond, the non-profit agencies that feed and house some of the areas most challenged individuals and families are being deluged with new clients and requests from people “devastated” by the impact of COVID-19.In the past two weeks Newport's Martin Luther King Center has “served more people (1,200) than in a three-month period of time,” said Heather Hole Strout, the MLK Center's executive director. “We do think the need is going to grow and continue at a much larger capacity than ever before for months and months to come.”New clients come from jobs that have vanished with the onset of COVID-19. “A lot of people are coming from the service industry who have lost their jobs suddenly,” Strout said.And the plight of the homeless has gotten particularly worse, as those in temporary shelters remain put, with few affordable housing options available, according to Kelly Lee, executive director of Lucy's Hearth in Middletown, a 15-unit family facility that houses 53 people.To view the complete article, visit What's Up Newp
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