In the age of dining delivery services and grocery subscriptions, it can be easy to take for granted readily available meals. But for those living with serious mental health conditions, the source of the next breakfast, lunch or dinner is often uncertain, and lack of access to regular, nutritious food can compound the daily struggles of their illnesses.
Like poverty and housing insecurity, food insecurity can both contribute to and be a result of mental health challenges. An analysis of over 30 studies found that 40% of individuals living with serious mental illnesses experience food insecurity, making them three times as likely as the general population to report a lack of access to affordable, safe and nutritious food.
Conversely, this lack can increase the likelihood that a person will struggle with his or her mental health. For example, a 2021 study found that food insecurity is associated with a 257% higher risk of anxiety and a 253% higher risk of depression. Research published in 2024 calls food insecurity “a critical factor influencing mental health.” The authors state, “Food insecurity is considered a psychosocial stressor that negatively impacts mental health, leading to increased levels of psychological disorders.”
Meals like the lunches and dinners offered at the Well Community can help to disrupt these negative impacts and provide vital nutrition for those without the resources to regularly obtain healthy food. But because they’re meals offered in community, these times are about far more than food: They’re about connecting, something with benefits far beyond the nutrition they provide.
Eating with others has been shown to have benefits ranging from lower risk of depression, anxiety and stress in adolescents to countering loneliness and increasing wellbeing for senior citizens. But our members don’t need the research to see these benefits firsthand. Over lunch at our Community Life Center, our members share their concerns and joys, laugh with one another and swap advice on resources available in the community. Sitting together at dinners during Thursday Night Life, they offer listening ears, catch up on one another’s weeks and enjoy the blessing of simply being in the company of others who care.
These meals provide not only nutrition, but a rhythm of connection in lives that have been upended by mental illness. They provide not merely sustenance but structure and socialization. For many Well Community members, they’re both the only meal of the day and the sole opportunity to be in a place where they’re accepted and understood.
“Our members look forward to meals as times they can be together and free from many of the concerns they face outside of the Well,” says Well Community Executive Director Alice Zaccarello. “When they come to our Community Life Center or Thursday Night Life, they know they’ll have access to food and friendship—both important elements in pursuing mental health stability.”
Your gift will help the Well Community continue to provide meals that offer both nutrition and opportunities for connection. Give now.