An Interview with Patsy Fortney
“It really pisses me off when people stereotype people with drug or alcohol addictions. It really makes me angry. Especially West Virginians, I mean it’s an epidemic here. I have lost so many friends here, and I should’ve been dead a long time ago too. But when it comes to food, here is where I believe the scales should be blind.”
Patsy Fortney is a 63 year old woman living in Cheat Lake, West Virginia. Ms. Fortney’s experience navigating hunger has been closely tied to her recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction: “Whenever I got out of the rehab facility last time, I knew I had to do something different. To keep me from going back to where I was before. So, I had no food when I got out, I had nothing to eat. I didn’t know about food pantries and things like that. So, one of my friends worked at the Caritas House on Scott Avenue, and she told me to come up and get some food. I became friends with the lady up there… and I asked her if she needed any help. I had so much time on my hands, and I knew that I was going to go back to drinking and doing drugs if I had so much time on my hands. So, I started volunteering at the food pantry. That changed my life.”
While her work at the Caritas House changed Patsy’s life for the better, there are very few places like that in Cheat Lake itself. “There’s nothing out here. Nothing. The closest one [food pantry] is a few miles down the road at a church, and it’s only open on Mondays. There’s a blessing box off the Pierpont exit, in a church parking lot…At the end of the month, that blessing box is always empty.” Getting quality food to these pantries can also prove to be a struggle: “When I was volunteering at the Caritas House, we would have to go to Preston County to the Sheltered Workshop and bring stuff back in.”
Ms. Fortney felt that the stereotype of wealth around Cheat Lake further hurts those who are struggling, and that since the Cheat Lake region is seen as generally wealthy and well off, there is an idea that food pantries and food programs aren’t needed there. Some local organizations do try to help out, but there are barriers to access: “The Chestnut Ridge Church had a coat drive a couple weeks ago, and for Christmas they are giving away 200 turkey or ham dinners. But if you don’t follow them on Facebook and you didn’t sign up on their list, you missed out. All the other churches out here, they do nothing. There’s nothing out here.” Considering the lack of food pantries accessible to folks in the boundaries of Cheat Lake, a lack of transportation can exacerbate issues accessing food. Depending on where you live, however, the ability to drive for food may not mean anything, as Patsy discovered: “Once, I had called St. Ursulas [trying to get food], and they told me I lived on the wrong side of the river and that I wasn’t eligible to get food. It was devastating. I even have a car, I could’ve gone to get it, but a lot of folks around here don’t have a car.”
“There’s nothing out here. Nothing. The closest one [food pantry] is a few miles down the road at a church, and it’s only open on Mondays. There’s a blessing box off the Pierpont exit, in a church parking lot…At the end of the month, that blessing box is always empty.”
There’s no doubt in Patsy’s mind that those who struggle with addiction also struggle with food insecurity: “I know some people who would sell their food stamps to get what they need to get.” When struggling with addiction, the choice between paying for food and paying to fuel that addiction can be a tough one, and Patys herself struggled to make those choices. Despite this, Patsy stood firm in her belief that all folks, regardless of circumstance, deserve the right to access quality nutrition: “We are all human beings. Nobody deserves to be hungry. Nobody, no matter what they’re going through. It really pisses me off when people stereotype people with drug or alcohol addictions. It really makes me angry. Especially West Virginians, I mean it’s an epidemic here. I have lost so many friends here, and I should’ve been dead a long time ago too. But when it comes to food, here is where I believe the scales should be blind.” Stories like Patsy’s embody the call that all people deserve to have their basic needs met, no matter what.