By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Almost 4 out of 10 Ellis County households are struggling to make ends meet, and those residents are relying more heavily on support services as prices for essentials increase.
United Way recently released Ellis County's Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed (ALICE) numbers.
These households are above the federal poverty level but cannot afford the basic cost of living. Most do not qualify for public assistance.
“The report shows that we have a significant amount of people living at or below that threshold or in poverty and are struggling with basic needs or cost of living,” Janelle VanKooten, United Way executive director, said. “From our partners … they're either seeing an increase in the number of families in need, or the severity of the needs is increasing.”
She said although the ALICE figures have not changed drastically over the last couple of reports, that doesn't mean challenges aren't there.
Ellis County numbers
Ellis County exceeded the state average in households at or below the poverty rate in 2024. Ellis County’s poverty rate was 19%. The state rate was 11%.
The latest report, which includes 2024 data, shows the county’s ALICE rate is 20%, compared to the state average of 24%.
The federal poverty rate for a single person in 2024 was $15,060. The ALICE threshold for a single person in Ellis County was $27,264.
The ALICE report noted the cost of essentials is rising even faster than inflation.
Researchers calculate essentials based on the costs of food, housing, transportation, health care and child care, along with other costs.
“In regard to cost of living and meeting basic needs, it's never just one specific area, so it's certainly a combination of all of those categories, from health care to food cost to transportation and housing, child care,” VanKooten said.
Food and essentials
Macey Pfeifer, executive director of First Call for Help, said her agency has seen a marked increase in requests for assistance in the last two years since the latest ALICE numbers were calculated.
The agency was providing food assistance to about 40 households monthly in 2023, but that has jumped to 100 to 110 this year.
She said their clients are being pushed from all sides. They are experiencing higher gasoline, grocery, rent and utility costs.
“In May or the beginning of June, I think the Kansas Food Bank order went out in 12 business days, and then we spent almost $1,000 on our Kansas Food Bank order,” Pfeifer said. “It's not going as far as it needs to.”
Theresa Hill, Community Assistance Center director, said the demand for food from her agency has increased by about 20%.
The agency is sending out about 100 food boxes per month.
Hill said most of the clients are under the poverty level and receive food stamps.
“But you can't buy hardly anything with what they get,” she said.
VanKooten said families in poverty are not the only ones falling through the cracks.
“Yes, absolutely it’s a challenge because, if you're actually in the ALICE threshold and not at the poverty level, you don't qualify for food assistance, which is the reason why the ALICE data becomes so important because that is the gap.”
The community has been generous, helping to fill the First Call pantry needs through both food and monetary donations. However, the agency’s utility assistance program is running out of funds before the end of the month, and other applicants who don’t meet income requirements are being turned away, Pfeifer said.
Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas covers a 31-county area, including Ellis County.
The agency offers food assistance, cash assistance for rent or utilities, personal hygiene and household products, and a diaper pantry.
Megan Robl, executive director, said the Hays Catholic Charities offices served 733 households in 2024. In the 2026 fiscal year, which ended June 30, the Hays regional office served 948 households; 415, or 43%, of those families were new to Catholic Charities.
That far outpaced the rest of the northern Kansas region, which had only 17% of its clients new to the agency.
Most families received cash assistance, Robl said.
She said 61% of households receiving that help received it for the first time in the last 12 months.
Robl said the agency usually sees an increase in need in the fall, but saw an unusual spike when SNAP benefits were delayed last year.
Robl said she thought a combination of factors was pushing families to seek assistance.
“I think obviously groceries are expensive, and just the cost of living continues to slowly rise,” she said. Folks are struggling to really close those gaps.”
Housing
A tight housing market continues to keep rental prices high, with one-bedroom rentals in Hays going for as high as $1,000 per month.
If residents qualify for housing assistance programs, including federal Section 8, renters face a cliff.
“You can't do any better for yourself while you're on Section 8,” Pfeifer said. “You can't make more than what you're making because then you lose your assistance.
“It's just hard for them because you want them to be better, and you want them to do better in life, and you want them to be able to not have to use facilities like First Call, but they can't because they can't make any more.”
“Once you're off Section 8, it's really hard to get back on,” she said.
Transportation
People who do not have reliable transportation struggle to maintain jobs, access to groceries and support programs, Pfeifer added.
First Call for Help launched a delivery program for people without transportation, which is helping some individuals, especially elderly residents who no longer drive, she said.
Anyone in Ellis County can ride ACCESS transportation for $3 per ride. However, that program has been struggling financially. A task force has formed to find solutions to the funding shortfall.
The program has already eliminated Sunday rides.
Child care
The Kansas Department of Children and Families offers assistance to help cover child care costs for qualifying low-income families. No local nonprofits provide support for these services.
Robl said, “And just speaking from what I see across our communities, even for my own employees, child care is the biggest line item in the budget, and so sometimes people have to decide if it's worth going to work because all of the money is going into that child care.”
Services for children tie into the nonprofit’s mission through its diaper program and pregnancy support service.
Robl said nationally, 50% of parents struggle to pay for diapers.
Nationally, half of U.S. children either fall into the ALICE category or are in poverty. In Kansas, 13% of children are at or below poverty, with another 28% of children living in ALICE homes.
Age and race
Seventy-seven percent of households headed by single mothers in Ellis County were either below the poverty line or fell in the ALICE category.
Race and age were also demographically significant factors in poverty or ALICE.
In Ellis County, the highest rate in poverty or categorized as ALICE is among Black households, at 85%. Sixty-seven percent of Hispanic-led households were in poverty or considered ALICE.
Households headed by adults younger than 25 dropped a percentage point, but 68% were in poverty or qualified as ALICE.
Almost half, 49% of senior citizens were either considered in poverty or in the ALICE category.
Lagging pay
Lagging wages are also contributing to the challenges for ALICE households, Pfeifer said.
“Groceries are rising, rent, utilities are all going up, and salaries and pay rates per hour aren’t going up along with them,” Pfeifer said.
Pfeifer said there aren’t any easy solutions to address the gaps experienced by residents in poverty or facing ALICE challenges. However, she said increasing the minimum could be a start.
Kansas remains one of 20 states in which the minimum wage is $7.25, and $2.13 for servers.
A single adult in Ellis County would need to earn more than $13.63 to exceed the ALICE income.
A full-time minimum wage job would not allow a single person to exceed the ALICE income in any county in the state.
“Even above minimum wage, it's really hard to support yourself,” Pfeifer said.
The United Way is planning ALICE data walks later this fall with support from Kansas Health Foundation, Kansas Health Institute, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.
VanKooten said she hopes the discussions will help community members and policymakers better understand the data and community needs.
Those dates have not been announced yet.
How to get help
Food pantries and assistance agency contacts in Ellis County; bancos de alimentos en el condado de Ellis
https://hayspost.com/posts/522d9bc7-8664-49c5-aba6-3242dc805e2a
Salvation Army, 203 E. Seventh St. Suite A, Hays
5-9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Saturday
Short-term financial assistance (rent, utilities, vision, prescriptions, and medical needs)
How you can help
United Ways of Ellis County-donate through payroll dedication or online at https://www.liveunited.us/
First Call for Help-donations including food, personal hygiene are accepted. Monetary online at https://www.firstcallelliscounty.com/
Community Assistance Center-See a list of items accepted at its thrift store or nonperishable food items and monetary donations taken year round. https://hayscac.com/
Catholic Charities- Many ways to help. See list online. Link for monetary donations on website. https://ccnks.org/hays
Feeding Hays-food for spaghetti dinners and monetary donations taken through St. Michael’s Episcopal Church. Donate online at https://www.stmichaelshays.org/map or follow the ministry on Facebook for more immediate food needs. https://www.facebook.com/groups/feedinghays/
Habitat for Humanity of Ellis County-See a list of items that are accepted at the ReStore thrift store or donate online. https://www.hfhec.org/