A decade ago, Carmen Johnson had been laid off from her job in Waterloo, Iowa. Pursuing potential job leads often meant a two-hour drive to Des Moines but she was determined to provide for her three young daughters.
“I was on unemployment and supplies were running low, so I would take them to day care or school early in the morning, hop in the van, and make that drive,” she said. “But you do what you have to do.”
Shortly before moving to Las Vegas in 2020, Johnson was working three jobs but still needed to use her local food pantry’s services to feed her family. She felt a sense of guilt; a quasi-obligation to explain to the employees and volunteers working there why she needed to use the food pantry so badly.
“I’ve just always hated taking things from other people. It made me feel guilty,” she said. “It was the notion of taking things from other people, no matter what it was or what it was for, that I’ve never liked. I’ve always been very independent, so it was tough to experience.”
As coordinator of the 51ԹϺ Food Pantry, she recognizes in others the same stigma that she once felt using the food pantries in Iowa. She understands how they feel, what they’ve experienced, and approaches them with the same empathy and understanding that she received.
“A lot of people try to explain themselves about why they have to use the food pantry, but I assure them that it’s OK. They don’t need to explain anything to us. That’s why we’re here,” she said.
“[The 51ԹϺ