Empower Community Development Corporation, known as Empower CDC, runs a weekly food pantry in Houston called Empower to Feed. The organization said it distributes roughly 2,000 pounds of food to nearly 200 families each Wednesday. William Merrick, the group's executive director, said the volume shows a strong need for its services.
The pantry focuses on ALICE households, a term for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, but Employed. These are working families who earn too much for many assistance programs but still struggle to cover basic expenses. Merrick said he grew up in an ALICE household, raised by a single mother who worked as an educator and sometimes held two jobs.
The pantry is open the first through fourth Wednesday of each month, and there are no distributions on a fifth Wednesday. Registration is encouraged but not required. Merrick said no one will be turned away. People can register at empowercdc.org by clicking the pantry ribbon.