While completing his practicum at Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH), Master of Social Work (MSW) graduate Troy Fontenot created a novel intervention to reduce the number of older residents experiencing food insecurity and loneliness. While dispensing groceries to the residents, he was alarmed by the number of older adult residents living without a consistent food supply. After reviewing APAH’s documentation, Fontenot confirmed the severe scope of the problem.
“While analyzing the most recent dataset, I observed that many residents self-reported mobility, transportation, and feelings of isolation, factors that are common co-occurrences to food insecurity,” Fontenot said.
To address this phenomenon, Fontenot organized a program to simultaneously combat food insecurity and isolation.
“Older adults are particularly susceptible to food insecurity, so the pilot program I proposed was specifically aimed at older adults,” Fontenot said.
Feeding America estimates approximately 10 percent of people aged 60 and older are food insecure, a problem that has increased over the past 20 years. Food insecurity is greatest among Black and Hispanic seniors, seniors with lower incomes, seniors who are younger (ages 60-69), seniors in households with someone with a disability, and seniors who are renters. Fontenot was unsettled to see the demographics of APAH’s senior residents very closely resemble these statistics.
His observations inspired him to provide a list of groceries available that week to the older residents at one of APAH’s properties. With the assistance of the resident service coordinator at the property, residents could indicate their grocery needs for the week, and each Friday, Fontenot would assemble APAH residents’ orders and deliver them to their doors.
Fontenot graduated May 2024 specializing in Adults and Healthy Aging. It was his education at the College of Public Health that equipped him to design and implement the grocery delivery program.
“During my studies at Mason, I became aware of the unique needs senior adults have, especially with issues of nutrition, access to food, access to affordable housing, social isolation, chronic health conditions, and systemic racism and discrimination. Other factors affecting older adult’s food security include access to reliable transportation, their own personal mobility, and cultural stigmas. Understanding these myriad factors was important because any proposed solution must be able to counter each of those constraints,” said Fontenot.
In addition to earning his MSW from Mason, Fontenot has a MA in Acquisition and Procurement from Webster University from his time serving as an Army Engineer Officer, and a BS in Biological Science from Southeastern Louisiana University. He is currently continuing his education at Mason through the Carter School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution. Fontenot also intends to apply for PhD in public health program to study climate change and the cascading impacts to human physical and behavioral health.
The MSW practicum provides students with world experience under the supervision of trained professionals. APAH, Fontenot’s practicum site, is a nonprofit affordable housing developer whose mission is to provide quality affordable housing and resident-centered programming to help individuals in the Arlington and DC metro region.