Andres Tovar, of Chicago Heights, said he started volunteering up to eight hours a week at the nonprofit Respond Now in February so that he could continue receiving support from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP.
He said he has been on and off SNAP benefits for 10 years, but under federal requirements that began Feb. 1, he has to meet work and volunteer requirements to continue receiving the benefits, or face losing access for three years.
Tovar was one of several volunteers Friday at the renovated Respond Now office, which offers immediate food and housing support. It reopened Feb. 9, shortly after the new SNAP requirements went into effect.
The renovation project began in 2023 and was funded through a variety of donors, including individual families, The Greater Chicago Food Depository and a grant secured by U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly, said Carl Wolf, Respond Now executive director.
Wolf said the $2.1 million renovation project represents an important investment in a community that has lacked investment for more than 30 years and has struggled with high rates of unemployment and poverty.
He said the nearly 30-year-old building, on Emerald Avenue in Chicago Heights, was dilapidated, but the renovations emphasize a feeling of “dignity and respect” for the people it serves.
“To be able to provide a community center that is, you know, new and fresh, speaks to the importance of the community,” he said. “I think it’s an important thing for the neighborhood and community we live in that, we’re saying, everybody here may be living in poverty, but everybody is important.”
The building has a larger food pantry space, a new conference room, nicer bathrooms and is overall more warm and comfortable, Wolf said.
Wolf said he expects several other projects to be completed in the next few months, such as landscaping, self-service food pantry stations, extended food pantry hours and a renovated clothing room, where people can donate clothes for families in need.
Juanita Webster, a volunteer, said Friday she grew up in Chicago Heights around the previous Respond Now building. She said the renovated building was awesome.
Two sisters, Marlene Beach and Chantel Moore, who also grew up going to the pantry, said they really liked the new set up. Moore said she first attended the pantry when she was 5, and said Respond Now volunteers helped her brother, one of 11 siblings, get a job and identification card.
Beach said she still sees old neighbors and friends at the renovated office.
Tovar said he has childhood memories of Respond Now being an important community hub, where he would go with his mother to get clothes, food and Christmas toys, even though he said the building was not very nice.
He said the building has a completely different feel, and said he especially likes the brightly painted walls.
But as he stood against one of those bright green walls Friday, he said he has been scared about going without food ever since the SNAP requirement changes.
Tovar said he barely gets by with rent payments, and under the new requirements he could lose SNAP benefits if he loses work or volunteer hours.
Benjamin Turpin, the Respond Now benefits outreach coordinator, said he works to help clients understand the SNAP changes and tries to translate people’s life experiences into proof they meet the requirements.
Adults ages 55 to 64, and parents without children younger than 14 have until May to prove they’re working, volunteering or participating in job training for at least 80 hours a month to keep their SNAP benefits, or they could lose benefits for three years, Turpin said.
He said a lot of his clients struggle with transportation, housing and bills while balancing appointments with public aid offices and seeking employment.
Now they are also scrambling to prove they meet the SNAP requirements.
“If people don’t have a chance to breathe, they never get a chance to get better,” Turpin said.
He also said without SNAP benefits, his clients must buy food before paying other bills, which he said causes them to struggle with other issues and takes up more public assistance resources.
“It’s putting a lot more work on people to prove that they’re needy,” he said. “It’s rooted in this idea that people need to be desperate to deserve help, but that’s not the point of SNAP. We’re trying to help people get out and be a productive part of the economy.”
Kyra Tolston and Antonio Davis both wrapped up their first week in Respond Now’s workforce training program Friday and said clients praised the renovations.
Tolston said when she first arrived at the nonprofit in 2024, she was living unhoused with two young children. She received services for years before she was hired as an administrative assistant in February 2026.
Davis was hired through the nonprofit’s workforce program after suffering an injury and leaving his previous job. He said people are comfortable with the bright energy in the building.
He said people in the south suburbs who are struggling can find answers and help at Respond Now, which he said offers immediate resources such as toiletries, mental health services, rent payment and identification card services.
“There’s a lot of help here, this is like a big answer room,” he said.
awright@chicagotribune.com
