The Human Toll of the Suspension of SNAP

"Angel Goodwin used to work remotely, processing applications for Medicaid and for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or . People would sometimes yell at her over the phone-"I've been called every name but a child of God," she said-but it was worse when they cried. "Especially the elderly. They would be approved for, like, thirty dollars a month, and they're getting Social Security for, like, nine hundred and forty-three dollars. They'd be, like, 'Honey, I can't-I don't know what I'm going to do, I don't have anybody.' " Goodwin, a single mother with an eleven-year-old son, also received SNAP benefits. "Little do they know I'm in the same boat," she said."

"Earlier this year, Goodwin began to feel pain shooting down from her shoulder, most likely a consequence of repetitive computer work. At the beginning of October, she took a short-term disability leave. Then, toward the end of the month, she logged in to her SNAP account and saw an alarming notification: November benefits weren't coming. She and her son had already scaled back to subsist on the short-term disability benefits, which were "not very much at all," she said. Now they'd have to make do with less, even as food prices seemed to get higher every week. "Personally, my faith will always outweigh my fear," she said. "But it's at a scary point now.""

"Amid the prolonged government shutdown, which is now the longest in American history, SNAP benefits have become a political football. In previous shutdowns, emergency funds have been used to cover the program, which serves around forty-two million Americans. But the Trump Administration has declined to do so. A number of states have stepped in to cover the gap, or to provide additional money to food banks; Texas, which has a multibillion-dollar rainy-day fund, has done neither. (H-E-B, the grocery-store chain which arguably serves as a second layer of social services in the state, has donated six"

Angel Goodwin processed Medicaid and SNAP applications and often received angry or tearful calls, especially from elderly applicants receiving very small benefits. Goodwin, a single mother, received SNAP while on short-term disability after shoulder pain from repetitive computer work. In late October she discovered November SNAP benefits were not coming, forcing deeper cuts during rising food prices. The prolonged government shutdown has halted SNAP funding and the Trump Administration declined to use emergency funds. SNAP serves around forty-two million Americans. Some states and food banks have stepped in to help, while Texas did not provide additional support.

Read at The New Yorker