Ms. Bogart was reluctant to participate in the focus group. She didn’t think there was anything extraordinary about her circumstances. “I thought I had nothing to offer anybody,” she said. “I’m poor. I grew up in poverty. I was born into poverty, raised my children in poverty.”
But her mother encouraged her to try, so she did. Afterward, the employees of the food bank asked her to be part of a training program for skills like public speaking. Ms. Bogart agreed.
At the end of the sessions, she gave a speech sharing her story with food bank employees and members of the community. She received a standing ovation.
It was moving to be heard, she recalled, and the experience nurtured her self-confidence. She began to understand that she could work not just to secure food for day-to-day survival but also to help other people.
“It hurts to be hungry,” she said. “If I can be a part of changing that for someone, my life is worth something.”
The positive responses she got at those talks kept her going. She started to work for the F.B.S.T. and was hired as a community empowerment coordinator in 2021. Last year, she attended a conference on health and nutrition at the White House. She’s now teaching people the same skills she picked up when she first went to the pantry asking for help.
She still struggles from time to time. “It’s not like I’m living a whole different life,” she said. But now her relationships with her co-workers are a source of strength. “I found a support system for the first time in my life at 40 years old,” she said.
And she is getting used to being on the other side, finding power and meaning in being the person whom others ask for help. “I don’t want to just move forward and leave everybody behind.”