hundreds receive food amid SNAP uncertainty

The line of cars stretched for several blocks along Racine Avenue, going around West 78th Street and ending in front of Sainte-Sabine Church. There, volunteers clad in winter coats and gloves waited to distribute a stack of brown cardboard boxes containing necessities for the next few weeks — non-perishable food for people who need it amid uncertainty surrounding SNAP benefits.

The food distribution event, hosted Saturday morning by the church community and the Greater Chicago Food Depository, attracted more than 500 people by car and on foot. Some attendees said they started waiting in line around 7 a.m., three hours before the event started, to fill boxes with items like peanut butter, pasta and canned fruits and vegetables. Pedestrians formed a line that surrounded the church parking lot, many with grocery carts, bags and children in tow.

In recent weeks, the future of federal food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as SNAP or food stamps, has been unpredictable for some. SNAP aid was set to end Saturday in the second-longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history, but federal judges ruled Friday that the Trump administration must fund the program using emergency reserve funds.

Still, it is unclear when these funds will be received by people receiving SNAP benefits, and delays are likely for people who rely on this funding. Continuing uncertainty is what prompted the depository and the church to hold the food distribution event, Kate Maehr, CEO of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, told the Tribune.

“One of the things we know from our work is that for families facing hunger, even a small interruption in SNAP benefits can create extreme hardship, and it may not seem like much, but if you don’t have food in your home and today is the day you planned to go grocery shopping for the month, you can’t wait,” Maehr said.

The depot and local food pantries have seen a steady increase in the number of people coming to pick up food over the past 18 months, she added, brought on by the rising cost of living.

“Hunger is at an unprecedented level, even before this happens, and it’s at an unprecedented level because people’s wages are not keeping pace with their spending,” Maehr said. “Food prices and rent prices are going up. So it’s a perfect storm, and unfortunately families are at the center of that perfect storm.”

For Josie Hobson, a mother of three elementary-aged children, the box brings some relief as the government shutdown impacts her paycheck. She doesn’t know when she will be able to receive her SNAP benefits again, she said.

“On my application they say I’m going to get it, but they say it might be delayed and I might not even get my usual amount. So that means I really have to make it count,” Hobson said.

New mother Emily Vargas pushed her daughter in a stroller down the sidewalk after receiving a box. Vargas came from Oak Lawn to receive the food, which she said is helpful after the birth of her daughter three months ago.

“I was on maternity leave and it was very difficult to be able to pay for everything,” Vargas said, adding that even though her daughter is breastfeeding, she herself must be healthy. “But it’s food for me to be able to be okay for her.”

Others sought out the food after already seeing SNAP reductions in their everyday lives. “(There’s) nothing to eat at home,” said Roberta Holland, who queued for distribution shortly before 8 a.m. Additionally, the amount of SNAP money she receives has recently decreased significantly, she added. “I qualified for $272. Within a week they cut me down to $23.”

As pedestrians began to receive their boxes, a woman stuck her head out of a house across the street. “Can I have one?” She called. “Can I have a box?”

The turnout surprised Holland, who was amazed to see people continuing to line up in an alley next to the church. She was hoping to get an extra box for her mother, but the boxes were gone by 11:30 a.m., only an hour and a half after distribution began.

“Everyone is hungry,” she said.

Other food distribution events are expected to take place throughout the month, said Maehr of the food depot. Not only in Saint Sabina, but throughout Cook County, in areas where the greatest number of people use SNAP.

“We’ll come back here next week. We’ll have more boxes,” Maehr said. “We currently have volunteers at the food depot packing boxes as quickly as possible. »