SNAP benefits restored for November
Recipients can breathe a little easier for at least another month
Cheryl Harvey waited for two hours Tuesday to pick out a cucumber. Harvey was one of 167 people who lined up that morning at the free food pantry at the William Temple House on Northwest Hoyt.
That number was unusually high, about 25% higher than usual according to the staff at William Temple House. Looking out over the crowd, William Temple House’s Executive Director Graham Craft said, “This looks like the end of the month,” when benefits often run out. But this past Tuesday was the first Tuesday of the month and the first day the pantry was open since the complete cutoff of SNAP benefits. The high numbers of those seeking food kept up Wednesday and Thursday, the other days the pantry was open this past week.
On Friday morning, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek surprised the state’s 750,000 SNAP recipients by coming to their rescue and releasing the November benefits. This came the day after a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to fully fund SNAP. The administration, however, immediately appealed the order. That appeal was denied Friday, but the administration then appealed to the Supreme Court to block the lower court’s ruling. On Friday night, in a temporary ruling, the Supreme Court essentially allowed the president to continue to withhold money for SNAP. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson did not rule on the legality of the White House’s request. Instead she issued a pause in a lower court’s ruling that gives an appeals court more time to consider legal arguments.
Still, Kotek (as well as the governors of other states) went ahead Friday and ordered benefits restored. In Oregon, state officials worked overnight so that by Friday morning Oregonians who rely on SNAP could start using their November benefits seven days late.
SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It provides food assistance to low-income families, seniors and the disabled. It is the leading anti-hunger program run by the U.S. government. Multnomah County says almost 20% of its residents rely on SNAP and that adds up to $29 million a month spent on groceries with SNAP benefits.
After shopping in the pantry, Harvey was able to fill her shopping cart with much more than that single cucumber. Others who didn’t want to wait hours to shop themselves made out grocery lists and volunteers filled bags for them.
Since the Oct. 1 government shutdown, the staff at William Temple House started bracing themselves for the possibility of a Nov. 1 freeze of SNAP benefits. Then, it became a reality. They say what they saw scared them. Calls from people needing help tripled in just one day. It is not an exaggeration to say that there were some people in Multnomah County who didn’t know where their next meal was coming from.
Medina Husakovic, communications and development director at William Temple House, says people came in this week who have never gone to food pantries before. They were not even sure what they needed to do to get the free food. On Tuesday, Husakovic said one of those new clients had gone to five pantries in an effort to find food. “He wasn’t familiar with local pantries. This goes to show that there are new folks having to seek food assistance right now in PDX.”
The number of those in line for food has been growing all year due to rising costs across the board: groceries, utilities, rent. And previous government cuts meant that folks like Cheryl Harvey had already seen their SNAP benefits cut in half.
Harvey is disabled and has large continuing medical bills. She said she suffers from a genetic bone disease and will need more surgeries and treatments. Tuesday was not the first time Harvey visited the William Temple House food pantry this year. She hoped to get meat, and was happy to find chicken in the freezer.
Like everyone else, Harvey didn’t know then when she would get her SNAP benefits back. Harvey blamed the stress and uncertainty on President Trump, “If he cuts people off, how are they going to live?”
Others blamed the shutdown on both Republicans and Democrats in Washington. “Why are we all suffering because they can’t make a decision?” Lynn asked us. She said she is a victim of domestic violence so we agreed not to use her full name or show her face, but she happily showed us the contents of the grocery bag William Temple House gave her. The half dozen eggs, soy milk, hamburger buns and hot dogs won’t last weeks. But Lynn told us she had barely eaten in the last two days and she was grateful she wouldn’t go hungry. She said Tuesday she would probably go to other pantries this week to try to stock up for the month.
There is another problem. Besides the growing demand for food, there is a growing shortage in the supply of food at local pantries. Most pantries like William Temple House rely on donations from the Oregon Food Bank, which gets money and food from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But this year the Agriculture Department cut back on its donations to food banks.
Local grocery stores that also regularly supply food to pantries have also reduced their donations. Craft says rising food costs appear to be a problem for everyone including grocery stores. For example, last year the pantry was able to give out on average about 40 pounds of food to each person who visited. This year, that number is down to 26 pounds a person.
Just days before it appeared the Nov. 1 SNAP benefit deadline would come and go, Kotek directed $5 million to the state’s food bank network, declaring a “hunger emergency.” The governor said Friday she is keeping that emergency order and money in place “until the uncertainty from the federal government is resolved.” Metro had also added another half million in contingency funds. Generous Oregonians as well have donated food and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
William Temple House just launched its November campaign, hoping neighbors will continue to help. You can donate on its website: https://www.williamtemple.org/
The pantry will hold special evening hours on the Monday before Thanksgiving to make it easier for those who work during the day to get food. (Thanksgiving comes at the end of the month, Nov. 27, when many folks run out of SNAP benefits.)
Cheryl Harvey lives just a few blocks from the William Temple House in a low-income apartment. We followed her home and watched her fill her cupboards. She has shelter and clothing, and now food as well, which makes her more fortunate than some of our neighbors.
Sources for food assistance
Clay Street Table
1314 SW Park
(First Christian Church of Portland)
Open on fourth Thursdays of the month, from 11 a m. -12 p.m.
Contact: Paul@ClayStreetTable.org
Preston’s Portland Free Food Pantry
1838 SW Jefferson St.
(in the rear of First United Methodist Church)
Tuesday 3 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. by appointment only
Thursday and Friday 3 p.m - 6 p.m. No appointment necessary but must arrive between 2 p.m. – 2:25 p.m .to get into lottery for shopping times
Contact: Program Manager Teresa Steichen at 503-221-1224 x105.
Trinity Food Pantry (Trinity Episcopal Cathedral)
147 NW 19th Ave.
Monday – Saturday 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Contact: Judy Stone
trinityepiscopalfoodpantry@gmail.com
William Temple House West Food Bank
2023 NW Hoyt St.
Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
11 a.m–2 p.m.
Contact: Kevin at kryan@williamtemple.org or call 503-715-0320, ext.1215.