DALLAS – If you receive SNAP benefits, you could see them in your account this weekend.
The government is moving quickly to get food aid to people who have been suffering through the shutdown.
Shutdown’s End & SNAP Benefits
What we know:
Help is on the way for 3.5 million Texans who rely on SNAP benefits.
After the funding bill passed the U.S. House and President Donald Trump signed it, the U.S. Department of Agriculture immediately issued guidance to states.
Local perspective:
“We anticipate it could take up to three days, hopefully sooner for people to see their full SNAP benefits back on their cards. So, that’s really good news,” said Celia Cole, the CEO of Feeding Texas, the umbrella under which Texas food banks operate.
Regular food giveaways in North Texas have been groaning under the added load of non-paid federal workers needing food, along with the state’s SNAP recipients.
“We did lots of special distributions to help those federal employees who were missing paychecks. And we know approximately the first two weeks of November, half of the SNAP caseload, and that’s, you know, over 1.5 million Texans, either saw no benefits or reduced benefits. And we saw that too in show-ups in our lines. More people seeking help to make up for, you know, the loss of those benefits,” Cole said.
What they’re saying:
Carmen Orozco relies on SNAP benefits because she is not able to work while caring for her 13-year-old terminally ill daughter. She was forced to find alternatives during the shutdown.
“I was starting to find help with Cook Children’s. My daughter’s social worker actually helped me several times with gift cards to actually buy groceries, and I turned to a local food pantry called Funky Town Fridge,” she said.
Orzoco said the stress is lifting knowing her benefits will soon be coming. She’s holding on until the help she’s counting on arrives.
“You know, we’re trying to make do with what we could,” she said.
The Source: FOX 4’s Shaun Rabb gathered information for this story by talking to Celia Cole, the CEO of Feeding Texas, North Texas mother Carmen Orozco, and the latest from the White House.