18 Dec Going Hungry, Looking for Work
President Trump continues his attack on low-income communities and decides to starve them as well. Recently the Trump Administration has finalized new rule changes with US Department of Agriculture to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that would limit eligibility for single recipients who work less than 20 hours. This change would remove almost 700,000 recipients from the program, more commonly known as food stamps, leaving them hungry. This change could prove to be drastic for families, communities and local grocers.
The proposed changes would virtually eliminate the ability for state governments to give waivers to SNAP recipients who don’t meet the 20 hours per week work requirement and don’t have dependents or a disability. As of now the almost 700,000 recipients are able to apply for a waiver that removes the limit of 3 months of assistance per 3 years. A major part of the recipients of these waivers are from high unemployment areas. This proposed change was previously a part of a farm bill in Congress that was ultimately left out. Showing yet another time that President Trump circumvents the legislative process.
This change impedes the ability for individuals to succeed and reach autonomy while fearing the possibility of food insecurity. In Las Vegas, many casino workers and laborers are subjected to on-call shifts and unreliable hours, many of which depend on this program. Unreliable hours should NOT be a reason to go hungry. In other high unemployment areas, people manage to make ends meet with day jobs and gigs while searching and struggling to find consistent employment. Their only relief was this program to at least not going hungry. Household with multiple adults and families will suffer the most as they are already at higher risk of homelessness; putting more pressure on the families to pick up the new costs in the households. The homeless population will be further pushed from any sort of path to housing, for many of them food stamps are the main source of food. Removing their access to food stamps only adds onto the obstacles they face on a daily basis. This change is under the guise of employment incentives, while only removing support and not creating more jobs to struggling communities.
If you want to help stand up to unjust changes like these or stay informed on the latest, join us at our weekly community meetings on Wednesday at 6pm. Get involved with our fight against the homeless ban or for tenant rights and affordable housing by joining our Housing Committee on Fridays. Contact us for more information at amigxs@maketheroadnv.org