Feeding uncertainty 

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history raised concerns over how food-insecure communities in Rochester and Monroe County will continue to access nutritious meals. Food pantries are committed to serving those in need as uncertainty looms over access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The last couple of weeks have been stressful for those who rely on SNAP. As the Nov. 1 deadline that would halt benefits inched closer, state, Monroe County and city of Rochester officials worked alongside food banks and pantries to ensure resources remained available. Then, the Trump administration decided not to fund SNAP benefits during the shutdown.

Foodlink, the city’s largest nonprofit tackling food insecurity, increased its emergency food network with over $1.5 million in food purchases, while Gov. Kathy Hochul allocated a total of $106 million for food banks, pantries, and nonprofits statewide. With New York issuing full SNAP benefits to eligible households this month, a crisis that has loomed over the last few weeks has been met with resounding resilience.

“We will keep forging ahead,” says Kathy Pelkey, director of Prosperity Programs at Catholic Charities Family and Community Services, which manages a food pantry on St. Paul Street alongside housing, refugee and family services. “We’re not competing with other food pantries. We’re doing it together.” 

President Trump signed funding legislation after the House of Representatives voted 222–209 to pass a spending package that has reopened the government after 43 days. Though the shutdown has ended, the ripple effects of the One Big Beautiful Bill on SNAP are expected to linger, whether through sweeping cuts or work eligibility requirements that are now in effect.

Uncertainty around SNAP

The federal shutdown began Oct. 1 as lawmakers faced a standoff over whether to include Affordable Care Act enhanced premium tax credits in any funding legislation. As the shutdown extended through the month, protecting access to SNAP became a rapidly growing concern after the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a memo instructing regional and state directors not to issue benefits for November, citing insufficient funds.

The USDA had previously claimed that its contingency fund—estimated in the range of $6 billion—could not have been used to issue benefits during the shutdown, in case those funds were required for other emergencies or disasters. 

“I think it is immoral, cruel and belittling to people when we talk about an ‘us versus them’ in terms of food. Food should be a human right,” says Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative executive director Aqua Porter. “People should have the access to and availability of good, nutritious food in order to live their lives. That we make this political is insane.”

The days leading up to Nov. 1 saw Hochul first announce $41 million in funds for emergency food relief. Rep. Joe Morelle joined Rochester Mayor Malik Evans, Monroe County Executive Adam Bello at a Foodlink press conference Oct. 28 to discuss the impact that new SNAP eligibility requirements and the shutdown would have on food-insecure individuals and households.

“(President Trump) continues to use this essentially (to) hold people hostage, holding effectively a gun to the heads of the weakest people in our society, threatening to hurt them if he doesn’t get what he wants,” said Morelle at the press conference. “Real people are being hurt by what is the equivalent of a schoolyard bully trying to get what he wants.”

The same day, New York Attorney General Letitia James said that she, with 25 other plaintiffs, would sue the USDA for suspending SNAP benefits despite available contingency funds. 

When courts in Massachusetts and Rhode Island demanded a plan for November SNAP benefits, the USDA said it could fund only 50 percent through contingency funds and Section 32 Child Nutrition funds, later revising that to 65 percent. The Rhode Island court dismissed those limits and ordered full funding by Nov. 7, setting a precedent that Hochul and others followed.

For states like New York, which last week announced that federal funds would be used to issue full benefits, USDA orders to reverse or adjust those issuances to a 35 percent reduction in benefits have left households unclear about their access to food following the shutdown.

“To make matters worse, this crisis didn’t need to happen in the first place,” says Krista Hesdorfer, director of public affairs for Hunger Solutions New York. “From the start, USDA has had the funds and authority to sustain SNAP without any disruption or delay. They made a choice to keep food assistance from people who need it.”

Meeting the demand

Monroe County has leveraged its resources to help families in need. Foodlink announced Oct. 31 it would purchase over $1.5 million of food for its emergency food system, a 150 percent increase over purchases made in the last two months of 2024.  

“Food pantries and meal programs, often the first resource for those facing hardship, are trusted in their communities and worked relentlessly to address the surge in need,” says Foodlink CEO Julia Tedesco.. “At Foodlink, our top priority was to support them in any way we could, and I’m personally grateful to all of the staff and volunteers at food pantries who have been on the front lines of this crisis (and who will continue to serve, long after this shutdown is forgotten).”

For Catholic Charities, which receives all of its donations from Foodlink, an increase in demand has placed constraints on the daily availability of resources. Many local food pantries are primarily volunteer-run, with food donations coming from either Foodlink’s network or the broader community.

These operations have observed similar dramatic increases in demand for food assistance amid the uncertainty. Rochester HOPE’s North Clinton Food Pantry has helped feed an average of 700 households over the last week, compared with previous averages of 300 to 400 households every two weeks. Bay Street’s Sister Mary Regis Food Cupboard has seen a recent daily rate of 40 to 50 individuals. Volunteers say they had to turn away individuals due to a lack of resources.

“I would imagine people are embarrassed because they don’t know what’s going on,” says Kate Breslin, CEO of Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy in Albany. “A lot of those people are kids, a lot of those people are people who, for some reason or another, can’t work. A lot of them are people who are working, but they’re earning (just) enough (not to be eligible for SNAP), and tens of thousands of those people in New York State are military veterans.”

“We’ve definitely seen double the demand, a lot of anxiety from the folks that we’re serving, (even) anger sometimes when they can’t get through the phone or they’ve stood at other food banks, finally get to the office and food is gone,” says Dimitri House executive director Laurie Prizel, who spoke on the ongoing confusion among recipients over how and when benefits would be issued.

While the state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance has announced eligible households will receive full SNAP benefits this week, those who need the assistance are worried about potential delays and inadequate funding. Monroe County Executive Adam Bello has also advised residents to maintain existing eligibility as the county begins to send out informational mailers outlining new SNAP qualifications, exemptions and work requirements for individuals and households.

“Able-bodied adults without dependents will continue to be eligible to receive SNAP benefits through February, but they have to take action soon to keep their benefits,” Bello said at a press conference in late October. “We’re really urging our SNAP beneficiaries to please take that action to ensure that you are eligible if you fall into the able-bodied category, to do that sooner rather than later.”

At the People’s Pantry of Rochester, some individuals in line for food said they felt stigmatized by having to wait in line, but their concerns over their benefits left them no other choice. Others said they faced delays in processing and didn’t know when their benefits would arrive, while still others shared anxieties over what would happen to their benefits altogether.

“I think a lot of the anxiety comes because of the increased demand,” says Char Cordone, executive director of the People’s Pantry. “The amount of people is so large that we’re staying open later and later to try to accommodate them. That can become difficult when you have volunteers that have to leave at a certain time, so I think a lot of the anxiety from them is coming from the long lines and waiting to get in and the uncertainty of what’s going to happen.”

Community support

Despite concerns about resources and their availability, those who spoke to Beacon also mentioned the resilience they have witnessed, whether through community donations, volunteer support or the interdependence of the area’s various pantries and organizations united in providing food to all who walk through their doors. Foodlink, through a food drive last weekend, received more than 12,500 pounds of donations. Pop-up pantries continue to provide access to those who need emergency rations.

“Food has a unique way of bringing people together. Moments like these highlight that, beyond our political or personal differences, no one believes their neighbor deserves to go hungry,” Tedesco says.  “I think this sparked the swift response we’ve witnessed over recent weeks … Generous donations of food and money arrived from all across our service region, and we received an outpouring of calls and emails from community members eager to help.”

Members of Rochester City Council have also lent a helping hand, including President Miguel Meléndez, who was present at the Foodlink drive. Councilmember Stanley Martin partnered with VOCAL-NY to provide a one-time $200 grant to 25 food-insecure households in Rochester. Grassroots organizations have also stepped up, including Community Justice Initiative—whose Feed the Village, a biweekly event, offers a free meal to anyone who attends—and  neighborhoods, some hosting food drives on Halloween night.

“The community has definitely stepped up. People are driving up here every day with donations,” says Prizel. “I’ve received a ton of money so that I’m able to … go to the local grocery store and buy gallons of milk or anything just so that we can keep the staples (in) people’s houses.”

“We are so fortunate to have generous donors that allow us the privilege of doing this work. … The thing we focus on the most is dignity,” says Rochester HOPE co-director Dawn Burdick. “We have great volunteers that come, and they bring with them the spirit of encounter. They want to be able to talk to people face to face, smile, and give them the hope that they have. (By) giving hope, you receive hope.”

Hector Cruz, who works with the House of Mercy, says his SNAP benefits were cut like those of others in the community. He understands the gravity of the situation and the experiences of people in need of food.

“There are people that are in worse situations,” he says. “We can help people properly, regardless of what happens.”

Though the shutdown has ended, concerns still remain among organizations and providers over how federal changes to SNAP will impact households across the Finger Lakes region.  Tedesco says Foodlink and its emergency food system will continue to see heightened demand as a result of changes to SNAP work eligibility requirements now in effect.

“We are working as hard as we can to share information and resources with the community about these eligibility changes and help them meet the necessary requirements to retain access to their benefits,” she says.

“Even after the shutdown…families and states will face unprecedented cuts to SNAP eligibility, administration and benefits as provisions of H.R. 1 begin to roll out,” Hesdorfer states. “If nothing else, this crisis has shone a light on the critical importance of SNAP for families and the economy.”

Breslin says the Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy has been engaged with colleagues at the state level to develop improvements that would make meeting new work requirements easier for SNAP recipients.

“(New York State) can definitely find ways of making that as seamless and straightforward as possible for families,” Breslin says. 

Porter says she hopes the state will step in to help SNAP households should federal impacts continue.

“I think that a basic need of food should not be the thing that we’re trying to decide on,” Porter says. “If the federal government decides not to fund SNAP for families in New York State (moving forward), then I 100 percent support and would encourage New York State to fill in the void.”

The shutdown’s crisis over SNAP, however, has reinforced a commitment to service and community, say food pantry operators. As families and households look ahead to the holiday season, organizations like Baden Street Settlement remain focused on providing services no matter the constraints.

“It’s a mission and vision for us to be able to address the needs of people who are facing the issues of poverty, and that’s what we prepare for. That’s what we’ve strived to be able to do … and we’ve been willing to do it,” says Baden Street Settlement co-director Ron Thomas. “We don’t necessarily always have the resources to solve the issue of poverty, but we really do have the spirit and the willingness to stand up and do what we can to address the issue.”

Narm Nathan is a Rochester Beacon contributing writer and a member of the Oasis Project’s inaugural cohort.

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