As part of our ongoing commitment–in partnership with The Urban Institute–to providing information and resources related to the goals of Stepping Stones, please find below summary of recent research on issues of economic security and financial independence for women and their families.

I spend my days, and many a night, thinking about what inspires donors, the power of the collective and what it means to work in a field supported by the gifts of others.  And in all those hours, spanning days, weeks, months and years, I rarely hear the word “risk.”

Well, I didn’t successfully complete the one-week D.C. Hunger Food Stamp Challenge, but, I did learn valuable lessons and new personal insights. 

But first, full disclosure.  Why didn’t I finish?  I pretty much gave up.  I tried, but it was pretty tough.

I did it! I made it through all seven full days of the Food Stamp Challenge without breaking!

As a co-chair of D.C.’s WIN’s Nonprofit Network, I was responsible for sharing responsibility for planning a dinner party for the annual Women Opening Doors for Women event.  The dinner parties are designed to provide young women in our area the opportunity to meet in an informal setting to discuss professional issues with women who are more advanced in their careers. 

Wow, I have 3.5 days left of this challenge, and little to spend. The first grocery shopping trip totaled $4.09 from my Wal-Mart purchases of sandwich ingredients and Ramen, but since then I’ve spent about $11.00.

In follow on to Ruth’s post today about her thoughts on the Food Stamp Challenge experience, and about her new awareness about living that close to the margins of hunger, poverty and general economic insecurity, I couldn’t help but think today again about the DC Saves campaign, and about how saving is truly one of the best ways of preventing teetering on that line.

I love a challenge and have always thought one didn’t need a lot of money to eat well, so I was well suited for the challenge.  My plan was simple: a big pot of beans and rice, a pot of potato soup and some spaghetti.  I don’t eat breakfast and I’m happy with leftovers for lunch.  I filled things out with a half dozen eggs (protein and an option for omelets and huevos rancheros) along with some corn tortillas, and cheese (Can you tell I’m a westerner?). The soup called for a few potatoes, but I bought a five pound bag which I figured could fill out a few lunches with the office microwave.

Today is day three of my seven days on the Food Stamp Challenge.  So far, so good.

Monday was pretty easy-breezy.  I decided to stagger my allotted food for the day.  Yogurt for breakfast, a cheese sandwich for lunch, a Special K bar for an afternoon snack to tide me over, and then a Boca burger with grilled onions and cheese on whole wheat bread for dinner.

The first night of the Food Stamp Challenge, I had the particularly odd experience of dreaming about food. I was thinking about it so much, about the taste and how I felt restrained from it.