When emergency SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits were eliminated two months early this past March, it caught many program participants off guard, including Tim Wennerberg, 59, who lives in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood. Wennerberg used to receive $260 a month in SNAP benefits, thanks to the emergency supplement introduced in April 2020 to help people buy food during the pandemic. Due to a federal policy change in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill that passed at the end of 2022, Wennerberg now receives $60 a month. “Who can live on that?” he asked, standing at the food pantry at First Presbyterian Kimbark, a Greater Chicago Food Depository partner site. “That’s cutting it close.” The unexpected change left Wennerberg, and countless others like him already living on the razor’s edge, scrambling to find alternative food sources at a time when food prices are still elevated. Wennerberg is grateful he found the food pantry at First Presbyterian Kimbark six years ago. He’s been using the pantry to supplement what he can purchase with his SNAP benefits, but will now rely almost solely on the food pantry. Gail Robinson, who manages First Presbyterian Kimbark’s Free Food Market, worries for SNAP participants like Wennerberg. Roughly 60 percent of the 130 families the pantry serves every week are SNAP participants, and all have experienced a reduction in monthly assistance.
The market has already experienced a spike in attendance, and Robinson is preparing for that to last for some time. “We will increase our volunteer base and we’re open to increasing our operational hours,” she said. The Greater Chicago Food Depository worked with its more than 800 partner food pantries and other meal site partners to alert SNAP participants about the benefit change shortly after it was announced. The nonprofit’s benefits outreach team is providing free assistance to participants to ensure they are registering for every benefits program that they are eligible for. The team is also referring SNAP participants to the Food Depository’s vast network of free food pantries and other meal programs available throughout Cook County. Laura Linton, a single mom of two, relies on the First Presbyterian Kimbark pantry to keep food on the table for her kids. She shares Wennerberg’s frustration about the SNAP changes. “They cut emergency aid while eggs were still five dollars. I don’t get it,” she said. Caring for her 16-year-old son, who is on the autism spectrum, makes it difficult for Linton to maintain a job, so the food she receives at the pantry is vital. “I’m grateful for this place,” she said. Another pantry guest Carolyn Rhodes, a former preschool teacher, added, “No one wants to come to a pantry, but you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do.”
Rhodes said her grocery budget has nearly doubled in recent months. She loves omelets, but increased food prices and decreased benefits means she can no longer afford to eat them. In the face of these challenges, the food pantry is even more essential. “This place means survival,” Rhodes said. Find a food pantry near you at chicagosfoodbank.org/find-food. If you live in Austin, Englewood, or Lawndale, you can receive free assistance in applying for SNAP/Link, Medicaid, and other benefits through the Benefits Access Network. Learn more at chicagosfoodbank.org/ban.
Caption: SNAP participant Tim Wennerberg is grateful to receive produce and meat at the First Presbyterian Kimbark food pantry, a Greater Chicago Food Depository partner pantry.
