PHOENIX (AZFamily) — As the government remains shut down, the clock was ticking for 40 million Americans and nearly 1 million Arizonans. Food assistance programs like SNAP are set to stop Nov. 1.
A rally held outside the Department of Economic Security office in downtown Phoenix highlighted the need for these programs. Families said they were holding their breath, wondering what life would look like without government assistance like SNAP.
SNAP is entirely federally funded through Congress, and as funding lapsed during the shutdown, those programs were on the chopping block. Just steps away from the Arizona State Capitol, dozens gathered holding signs, chanting and asking for what they called “life-saving assistance.”
People who used SNAP benefits to get by each took the microphone, saying this was not a handout but a hand up. Others criticized the program, claiming it was often abused.
Wherever people stood on the issue, it couldn’t be ignored that families across Arizona relied on SNAP to survive.
Arizona family faces uncertainty
One of those families was the Villa family. They said with the possible cuts looming, they were taking things day by day.
After a long day out, the Villa family returned home. Aurelia, a single mother of three, lives with her mother, Lena.
“They keep me alive,” Lena said.
The close-knit family shares one roof — their laughter mirrored by Aurelia’s daughter’s markers drawing her latest masterpiece. To outsiders, they looked like they had all the answers.
“And they expect, ‘Nana, what’s for dinner? Nana, can we have a snack?’ And it’s going to break my heart if I don’t have nothing to give them,” Lena said.
The family was among thousands relying on SNAP benefits.
“I start buying stuff that we’re going to be needing. And this has to last us,” Lena said.
With the possibility of the program disappearing, she added, “Because this sometimes will be our meal.”
Lena is on medication and is retired. She said her Social Security check only stretched so far.
“I pay my car insurance, and I pay other little small bills that I have, and that’s probably the end of my check,” she said, explaining she has to find inexpensive ways for the kids to still be kids.
“Get them a coloring book and tell them color for an activity,” Lena said.
Aurelia said she tried to take the steps to get her family out of this situation.
“I had my high school diploma, went to college to get my medical coding and billing. And even then, going into work in clinics, it still was not enough,” she said. “It is my job to figure it out.”
A family looking for answers — trying to make it by.
State responds with emergency funding
In response, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs announced emergency funding to help people who relied on SNAP, allocating $1.8 million in leftover COVID-19 relief funds for food assistance.
Of that amount, $1.5 million was designated for state food banks and $300,000 for “Food Bucks Now,” a program offering eligible households $30 vouchers to purchase food.
See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? Please click here to report it.
Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send it to us here with a brief description.
Copyright 2025 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.