SNAP Suspension

You’ve no doubt heard about the suspension of payments under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as of November 1. Nearly 30,000 neighbors in Allegan and Ottawa Counties will be affected by this withholding of funds. Congress previously set aside a reserve for situations like this, but the current regime has announced it will not tap it. Read about the history of federal government support for food security in Heather Cox Richardson’s account. 

Local nonprofits are bracing for the impact. As a key part of the local charitable food system, Community Action House recommends these actions:

• Give to the food nonprofit of your choice. Given their buying power, cash goes further than in-kind contributions, but every gift keeps food on the shelves.
• Volunteer to keep programs running as the numbers of people needing assistance rise.
• Advocate by calling your elected representatives. As Community Action House says, “Tell them that programs like SNAP are not optional—they are lifelines that keep our communities healthy and stable.”

Funding for County-Level Services

At the same time, the Ottawa County Community Action Agency (CAA) faces catastrophic federal funding cuts. As things stand, CAA will not have funds to continue its utility assistance, weatherization, and food assistance programs this winter, starting almost immediately, unless Community Service Block Grants (CSBG) and Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds are restored to the federal budget. About 5,000 people in Ottawa County used these services last year.

Ottawa County citizens are joining the CAA to ask the Board of Commissioners to take action by contacting our Congressional delegation and asking them to restore federal funding and staff so that CAA can do its job of keeping people:

• warm this winter;
• in their homes, avoiding an increase in homelessness; and
• keeping people fed.

What can we do?

• Contact your commissioner and/or the Board of Commissioners (find contact information here) and ask them to consider and approve a resolution that asks our Congressional representatives and Congress as a whole to restore this funding. A message from the Board of Commissioners as a whole would carry more weight.
• Write or call Senators Peters and Slotkin and Representatives Huizenga, Moolenaar, and Scholten and ask them to get this funding restored. Their contact information is here.
• Make a public comment in support of these actions at the Tuesday, October 28, Board of Commissioners meeting at 9:00 a.m. You can make public comment either in person or online via Zoom during the meeting.

All of these program reductions have real consequences that could hurt real people—our neighbors—if we don’t change course.

Photo by nrd on Unsplash