It's been a month since a tornado devastated parts of Hardin County in Kentucky. That kind of devastation continues to harm residents far beyond the initial tragedy. Like many parts of the United States, the residents of Hardin County need access to financial resources to reclaim their safety for the long term.

Resources deployed in the immediate aftermath of a disaster aren’t designed to help with long-term recovery and long-term financial security. We have an opportunity to support the 15,420 Hardin County residents who were food insecure before the tornado hit. In Hardin County, 13.9% of the population, including 5,350 children, do not have consistent access to the daily caloric intake they need and deserve. But they could. Recovering fresh surplus food that would otherwise be destined for landfills located on farm fields, food distribution centers, grocery stores, and at area large-scale events and consistently donating it to nonprofits throughout Hardin County for distribution to families could be a life-changing start. Ensuring every eligible household received SNAP and WIC would help, too.

But we must solve the issue of residents persistently being so financially unstable that by the time they’ve paid critical bills, they don’t have enough money to purchase food. The people of Kentucky work hard. They deserve wages and benefits to support themselves and their families, enough to save so they can navigate options when disaster strikes. As dollars are diverted to managing repairs and families suffer from lost wages for taking time off work to address damages—it shouldn’t take years to regenerate their savings.

Let’s not overlook the stark reality: Kentucky’s minimum wage is $7.25. However, the hourly living wage for Hardin County for one individual to meet their basic needs is $19.41. Two working adults with one child need to make $18.22 hourly; an adult with one dependent needs to earn $32.15 an hour. This significant wage gap can be addressed by increasing the state minimum wage to reflect actual living costs in Hardin County. Increasing the state minimum wage to even $17 an hour by 2028 would directly support more than 300,000 Kentuckians.

All Kentuckians deserve food, and access to that food, whether through their labor or otherwise, should be as easy as possible.

The wake of devastation continues to affect residents living on the edge—people continue to live in temporary housing, and property repairs are still underway. Together, we can correct a long-standing ill in Hardin County.

If you live in Kentucky, take time, write to your legislators to urge a change in policy - increase the minimum wage and help neighbors weather the long lasting impact from future storms.