Washington, D.C., area residents said Wednesday they are less interested in the political battles, and more focused on the potential loss of benefits and what that means for their families.Ěý

SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is a government-funded food assistance program designed to support low-income households with children, seniors and people with disabilities; it offsets the cost of nutritious food during economic hardship.Ěý

Stress is palpable

More than a million people in the D.C. metro area suffer from food insecurity, according to the Capital Area Food Bank, the largest food distribution center in the region.ĚýĚý

Bernice Anderson, a D.C. resident, received her SNAP benefits on Nov. 1, but said the possibility of not receiving them kept her awake for several nights in a row.Ěý

Anderson, who has been receiving SNAP benefits for the past six years, said she depends on that help to feed her three children.Ěý

“Three kids, bills and all the things,” Anderson said. “We would have no food if we didn’t get stamps.”

Hillary Salmon, senior director of marketing and communications at Capital Area Food Bank, said 430,000 people in the DMV area rely on SNAP benefits, with monthly assistance averaging between $186 and $330 per household. Without the SNAP dollars, Salmon said 80 meals a month are “gone from families’ tables.

“We are trying to fill the gap,” Salmon said. “For every meal that a food bank provides, the SNAP program provides nine. That can get you a sense of how broad the issue is.”Ěý

Salmon said Mayor Muriel Bowser’s announcement that the city will fund SNAP through November brought relief. But she said the food bank is still planning for potential impacts from possible delays. In November, Capital Area Food Bank is ramping up to provide a million more meals than previously projected, a 25% increase from the same time last year.Ěý

Although residents in the Washington, D.C.,Ěý area will still receive benefits this month, Salmon said the community’s stress is palpable. Phone calls to the organization’s Hunger Lifeline, which assists those looking for emergency food aid, have tripled over the past three weeks.Ěý

In September, the Capital Area Food Bank’s Hunger Report found 36% of residents in the DMV area don’t know where their next meal will come from. Salmon said she suspects the numbers will get worse following recent federal layoffs and the government shutdown.Ěý

“We are dealing with many forces acting upon each other,” Salmon said. “A lot of these folks are really experiencing economic strain and a lot of anxiety about what’s going to happen.”

Mixed messages from the feds

Conflicting messages from the federal government on SNAP funding have led some to question whether they will get their benefits in November.

In October, the website said SNAP benefits would not continue in November.

“Bottom line, the well has run dry. At this time, there will be no benefits issued on November 1,” the Food and Nutrition web page said at the time.

On Oct 30, Bowser announced that the District will use its own money to cover the cost of food benefits received by Washingtonians under SNAP through November.Ěý

On Oct. 31, federal judges ordered the Trump administration to use emergency federal funds to sustain SNAP benefits through the shutdown.Ěý

Then, Trump said on a Nov. 4 Truth Social post,Ěý SNAP benefits would be held.

On the same day, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Trump administration is distributing SNAP benefits.

“The administration is fully complying with the court order,” Leavitt said.

‘Frustration’ and confusionĚý

Behind the shutdown, political banter, confusion and court orders, residents are worried.Ěý

Mike, who received food from Bread for the City, an assistance center, and who requested not to use his full name for privacy reasons, said he welcomed Bowser’s decision to authorize the use of local funds to support SNAP.

“Without that help,”Ěý Mike said, “I would lose my benefits.”

For Katrina Sanders, a Washington, D.C., resident, the possibility of not receiving her SNAP benefits in November is unimaginable.

Sanders, a mom of four, said a foot injury has kept her from working, and the benefits provide peace of mind for her and her four children.Ěý

Scheduled to receive her SNAP benefits on Nov. 8, Sanders said she is relying on different community outreach programs, such as Martha’s Table, a nonprofit service organization, to have access to fresh produce.Ěý

“I am going to have to make due with what I have,” Sanders said. “You rely on all these things put in place, and to hear they may not continue to be in place is so frustrating.”Ěý

ĚýWorld Central Kitchen helps federal workers

The NGO World Central Kitchen is helping people in need in Washington, mostly federal employees and their families. The government shutdown has affected not only SNAP recipients but also the food security of many federal workers.

“We are feeding people working without pay,” said Laura Hayes, senior manager of the Chef Corps for World Central Kitchen. “They are coming into the office, and we are making sure to take care of them.”

By helping federal workers overcome food insecurity, they are also supporting local restaurants, which have been struggling as fewer federal employees eat out.

Hayes said the group has provided more than 36,000 meals and all of them are purchased from local restaurants.

“We are buying the meals from the local restaurants and then sharing them with furloughed workers,” Hayes said. “So everybody is supported a little bit.”

Salmon said concerns and caution are rampant in the community. But with support from community networks, there is some ease to the tumultuous environment.

“We know there was an existing high level of need in our community even before anything related to the shutdown, and we are working to step in and help provide even more food out into the community,” Salmon said.Ěý

The post Anxiety, concern seize community over SNAP benefits first appeared on 91ÇŃ×Ó.

While the rest of the country focuses on national policy debates centered on affordable healthcare, people in Washington, D.C., feel the weight of the shutdown each day.

Here’s how the federal government halt is playing out on the streets of the District:

Museums everywhere – but they’re closed

George Washington Law School student Bradley Suarez often brings his dog Maple to play fetch on the lawn of the National Mall. The Florida native said his mom tagged along a few weeks ago. It was unusually barren – no local artisans or food trucks set up outside.

Suarez said that’s not the only thing that’s changed. He had to find a new place to take study breaks, since the Smithsonian Institution museums closed.

He used to “pick one museum a day” to walk around between class work. Now, because of the shutdown, the doors are locked.

“I don’t like it,” Suarez said.

By Isabel Del Mastro

New normal

Rachel Callahan moved to D.C. two months ago, eager to start college at George Washington University and explore the city. Federal layoffs and a government shutdown welcomed her to the District.

Originally from Pittsburgh, Callahan said her parents are eager to visit for family weekend. But, since TSA is “all messed up” from the shutdown, she said they may not make the trip.

As the National Guard troops walk by the Foggy Bottom Metro, Callahan said she has only known a D.C. in shutdown.

“It’s just like normal for me at this point — it would be different if I was here before,” she said.

By Ellen Tannor

Empty city, empty restaurants 

Kevin Gonzales, a manager at Carvings, a casual American restaurant in Foggy Bottom, said he wonders how long the government’s pause will affect business.

“We are down to about 25% of our business’s revenue because federal employees stop coming to our establishment,” he said. The restaurant serves everything from quesadillas to Reuben sandwiches to chicken tenders.

The restaurant has been empty Wednesday, with only spurts of customers straggling in. Gonzales said the business may have to lay off morning staff if the shutdown continues.

By Lynn Howard

‘Disappointing’ trip

Rachel Jennische and Robert Muilenberg, both journalism professors at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas, flew with four undergraduate students to D.C. for MediaFest25, an annual conference for student journalists.

Jennische said she is disappointed, but not surprised, that the federal shutdown ruined their plans.

She wanted to take her students to visit the Smithsonian Institution museums, but the federal shutdown paused its funding. All 21 Smithsonian facilities closed their doors Sunday.

“I do mostly feel bad for our students because they don’t get the chance to travel much,” Jennische said. “That is disappointing.”

Instead, the group visited replicas of well-known D.C. sites, like The People’s House: A White House Experience.

By Isabel Del Mastro

No dinosaurs in D.C.

Matt, a French traveler who didn’t give his last name due to privacy concerns, is just in D.C. for two days as a part of a 60-day solo excursion throughout the United States. His trip started in New York and will end in Portland, Oregon.

He said he didn’t care about the federal shutdown at first. Then, it messed up his plans to visit the Smithsonian.

“Now, since I can’t go to see the dinosaurs, I’m kind of sad,” Matt said.

By Isabel Del Mastro

‘National gardeners’

Hundreds of thousands of furloughed federal workers are going without pay during the shutdown. The military, including National Guard members, could be the next to miss paychecks.

Protesting outside Union Station, veterans Matt Gordon and Blake Heinz said the National Guard should not have been deployed in D.C.

Gordon called the deployment “an embarrassment.” The guard has no clear orders, he said, and low morale. Guards assigned to beautification of the National Mall, have earned the nickname “National Gardeners,” Gordon said.

By Terrance Williams

Future ‘to be determined’

The shutdown is making it harder for Elizabeth Riekse, a senior international relations major at American University, to finish her capstone.

She planned to write about Thomas Jefferson’s Quran. Visiting the Library of Congress was essential to Riekse’s research. Now that it’s closed, the future of her project is “to be determined,” she said.

It’s not the first time the government changes have impacted Riekse. This summer, she interned at the US Department of Agriculture. Her job was cut during DOGE.

By Anastasia Menchyk

Democracy’s future

A group called For Liberation and Resistance Everywhere, a left-wing organization protesting Donald Trump’s presidency, has been on the lawn outside Union Station for months. Randy Kindle, a board member for the organization, said Trump’s presidency is a “multi-generational traumatic event.”

“If we don’t get Trump out by the end of the year, we won’t be a democracy for a long, long time,” he said.

Kindle said he has noticed fewer tourists since the shutdown started two weeks ago. He said he thinks Republicans and Democrats will reach a deal after the ‘No Kings’ protest Oct. 20.

By Terrance Williams

Federal workers ‘in panic’

Once a week Astor Archer stands around D.C. and spreads the word of God. He’s a Jehovah’s Witness, and said many of his friends and fellow parishioners who were furloughed are facing economic hardships.

Positioned in the heart of Foggy Bottom, across from Circa restaurant where federal workers pass by on their way to work, Archer said it seems like people are “in panic” at times.

Archer said he talks to everyone — doctors, nurses, federal workers and the general public. He looks through the pages of his bible for solutions for problems people are facing.

“It helps us see that there’s something better for mankind,” he said. “I’m here to give information, spread love and give hope.”

By Ellen Tannor

Nothing to see here

American University teaching assistant Jonah Gutterman, a 22-year-old junior from Philadelphia, usually escorts his intro-level government class on trips to federal buildings throughout the semester.

The shutdown cut those visits. “We were supposed to do a lot of really fun, exciting trips,” Gutterman said.

The class was scheduled to visit the Washington Monument and the Pentagon, he said, but the visit had to be cancelled. Gutterman said he doesn’t think the shutdown is close to ending.

“To be honest with you we haven’t covered it a whole lot in my congress class,” he said.

By Anastasia Menchyk

Life in limbo

Chris Ravenwind has been unhoused for four months. The path that led him there is tangled with the ripple effect of federal layoffs.

Originally from California, Ravenwind said he worked for a security company in Virginia — until he was abruptly laid off. He said he believed the layoffs were tied to the instability of the federal government.

Now, he said he spends his days submitting job applications and trying to find permanent housing, which is harder to nail down right now. Ravenwind said he is on a 5- to 8-year waiting list for government-assisted housing. For now, his next steps are simple: find food, get rest, keep trying.

“After I manage to get one responsible thing done, it’s about sleep and getting enough spare change to cope,” he said.

By Ellen Tannor

Staying optimistic

Fall is usually the busy season at Central Michel Richard, a French-American bistro near the Federal Triangle, said Ebony Miller, assistant general manager.

The restaurant’s main clientele are senators, lawyer groups and federal workers, she said.

The restaurant has seen a decrease in business since August, Miller said, but the federal shutdown has made it worse. She said her team is trying to stay optimistic.

“I’ve been trying to find creative ways just to make sure we put ourselves out there,” Miller said.

By Isabel Del Mastro

New business plan

Anuradha Mehra has sold handcrafted goods at Capital Harvest on the Plaza, a vendor market, for two years. But since the federal shutdown, she said her business has been suffering.

Mehra has 30 artisans crafting bags, scarves, and home goods in New Delhi, India, for her business IndiBlossom. She moved to D.C. 15 years ago and has been selling art for the past 10 years.

She said she only sells her goods in popup shops but, since the federal shutdown, she might create an online shop to help supplement business.

“I think in some ways I feel compelled to start my online space because, you know, with the way things are. But the shutdown is really just impacting people’s ability to shop,” said Mehra.

By Isabel Del Mastro

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