take elma, a professional mother of two who never thought she would be depending on others for a meal. >> we get bread, sometimes we get seafood, sometimes we get chicken. >> reporter: across town at the lol mission, we found a college graduate who is now homeless. >> i never ever really disclosed this to my family because 's embarrassing. i'm expected to do wel you know? >> reporter: then there's norma, she's worked since she was 13. but lost her job last year. >> when you see that you don't have nothing at home to cookr to oer, it makes it tough. >> she can't afford food, let alone health care. and she's not alone. the numbers of americans like her without health insurance climbed to 51 million people last year, nearly 1 in 6, a record. the numbers are so bad for working-age people that some are comparing them to the 1960s, just before president lyndon johnson launched a host of welfare programs in his war on poverty. >> we shall not rest until that war is won. the richest nation on earth can afford to win it. we cannot afford to lose it. >> reporter: but critics say we've done just