Aldi.
Frisco is filled with a variety of grocery stores with most residents just a short drive from the nearest market. But the Frisco Family Services Market could be one of the most vital stores in the city.
“To realize it can happen anywhere. Frisco, you think, is an affluent community, and yet we have people who are out of work who are on assistance,” volunteer Roz Wiener said. “But it’s happening in your backyard, and that’s the part you have to understand.”
Between the recent government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history and the holiday season, staff members have been navigating the growing demand, something they’ve been tracking closely.
“We’ve seen a 51% increase in applications for people that are needing help, and then for our clients, we’re seeing a 20% increase in the visits to the market,” FFAS Marketing and Communications Manager, Laryssa Ingham said.
The rise in need has also shifted how the organization operates day to day, with staff stepping in where extra help is needed most.
“We are getting so much support from the community that we don’t necessarily have enough volunteers at any given moment for those so we kinda just all come over from the main building and come and volunteer and we help and we sort out the food and kind of help process those,” Ingham said.
As the community continues to recover from the government shutdown, many families are still facing unexpected and long-term changes in their lives.
“So as of right now I think that we’re getting just enough, but we do need more help,” Ingham said. “We still have of course those people that are unemployed now because that happened too, there are people that permanently lost their jobs so we’re still gonna need to get donations and help whether that’s volunteers, financial help, and of course food donations as well.”
Between inflation, the shutdown, the holiday season, and the growing cost of living in Frisco, some Frisco residents are struggling.
“People losing hope, a lot of people did not expect this to happen to them,” Ingham said. “This is no fault of their own. I think a lot of people are really nervous about what’s to come, they don’t really know.”
Volunteers at Frisco Family Services have also seen just how quickly the need has grown — and how the community has responded. With more people coming for help, schools and students across Frisco ISD have become an important part of keeping the market running.
“We need volunteers,” Wiener said. “The food drives have been wonderful. The schools really, really come through. But volunteering and even cash donations are appreciated as well.”
Food insecurity isn’t something that’s talked about in the hallways, classrooms, or cafeteria here on campus, but that’s exactly why places like the Frisco Family Services Market exist.
“The clients that we see here could be one of your friends, it could be someone that you sit across the table from,” Ingham said. “Someone that you see during your lunch hour that could be struggling, and you may not ever know because it doesn’t wear, it doesn’t look like a homeless person. It could be someone you go to church with, it could literally be someone that you’re at a stoplight next to you know. It’s just that a lot of people are struggling so just to be mindful.”
Through the busy days and crowded shelves, moments of hope still stand out.
“There are people who’s like, this is my last one,” Wiener said. “I have a job and you cry with them and you applaud. It’s like a community.”
