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Source: Odessa American, TexasOct.mini storage 13--Opal Jean Hamilton can't work in the oilfields. Her back hurts, she says. And, of course, she's 76 years old.The regional economy is booming, but where does that leave Hamilton? At Catholic Charities' food pantry, collecting the food she says she can't afford."I have to pay $600 a month for my place and that's all of my Social Security check," Hamilton said during a visit this week.Because of all the people moving here to work in the oilfield, the cost of living is more than what Hamilton can afford. She's moved 12 times in a year, most recently to a rented home on Patterson Avenue in South Odessa. On this visit to the food pantry, she leaves with chicken, bread, muffins and essentials like toiletries."I'm a widow. I don't have my husband. I don't do this for people to feel sorry for me but I have to look out for myself and do the best I can," Hamilton said. "I'm not gossiping or anything like that. I'm just telling you what's happened to me: hard times."She represents part of a population of hungry people that has grown with the oil boom, according to data kept by the West Texas Food Bank, which supplies the food to Catholic Charities and 80 or so other partner organizations through the 19-county region. Often hunger stays secret, says Libby Campbell, the executive director of the food bank. The simple reason is that hunger can be embarrassing."That whole demographic is really just getting hammered," Campbell said. "They are on a fixed income and they can't just keep up with the cost of living."The food bank's Jose Trevino, who works in social service and outreach, said nearly half a million meals were served to individuals in the last year.In all, Campbell estimates the food bank serves about 75,000 people -- 11,000 of whom aren't under the poverty line but still can't keep up."Not all tides raise all ships," Campbell says often when the topic comes up.And sometimes, that reality is overshadowed by the area's status as having the highest growing Gross Domestic Product and the lowest unemployment rate in the country; and projections of a more long-term boom driven by more than just price and geopo儲存itics, but by technological innovations of horizontal and hydraulic fracturing that allow producers to pull directly from the rock."We have people suffering, because people who are not part of the oil and gas bounty are living with the consequences of a place where their rent's gone up $300 a month," said Waco economist Ray Perryman at a recent Odessa College luncheon.Over time, Perryman said some relief might come as housing supply catches up to demand, noting a rapid increase in residential building.In 2012, households with a resident 60 or older made up 29.8 percent of Ector County's population, according to data of the U.S. Census Bureau. But seniors made up 37.8 percent of people living below the poverty level. People with disability status made up about 27.5 percent of the population but 46.8 percent of people living in poverty.The WTFB is in the early stages of planning a program for senior citizens similar to its Food for Kids program, Trevino said. Food for Kids provides weekend sack meals through the Ector County Independent School District. Many are latchkey kids, Campbell says, another rising group whose parents leave them at home while they go to work.Hunger has grown with the oil boom, Campbell and other aid workers say, especially among three groups of people: Single parents who are struggling and kids who stay home while they work; New arrivals to town in search of work; and, in perhaps the greatest numbers, senior citizens."There's lots of great things going on in our community. There's growth. There's new schools being built, performing arts centers. There's new retailers, restaurants. I mean I grew up out here. I remember when we didn't have a Walmart," Campbell said. "So to see all the growth is absolutely amazing, and it's powerful, and it's wonderful, and we want it here, but sometimes with all those good things there does come some ugliness too. Hunger is part of it."Contact Corey Paul on Twitter @OAcrime on Facebook at OA Corey Paul or call 432-333-7768.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Odessa American (Odessa, Texas) Visit the Odessa American (Odessa, Texas) at .oaoa.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉