Community groups in Georgia try to keep families fed as uncertainty over food aid continues

About 20 people gathered outside MUST Ministries’ Canton office Monday morning, some waiting in parked cars to avoid the lingering chill, others bundled up and chatting in English or Spanish. When the doors opened at 10 a.m., the people walked into a waiting room and lined up in front of a receptionist’s desk. One young […]

Goodr Community Market on Edgewood, which opened its doors in July, aims to provide fresh groceries for low-income families and senior citizens in downtown Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood. Maya Homan/Georgia Recorder

About 20 people gathered outside MUST Ministries’ Canton office Monday morning, some waiting in parked cars to avoid the lingering chill, others bundled up and chatting in English or Spanish.

When the doors opened at 10 a.m., the people walked into a waiting room and lined up in front of a receptionist’s desk. One young woman with a curious baby slung over her shoulder pulled out her phone and asked Google how to say ropa – clothes – in English.

When she was at the front of the line, the young woman showed her phone to the receptionist.

“Just ropa, no comida?” the receptionist asked – “just clothes, no food?”

On Friday, a pair of federal judges ruled that the Trump administration’s plans to pause the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program starting in November were illegal. SNAP helps feed tens of millions of Americans, including 1.4 million Georgians.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to pay a portion of November’s benefits to recipients as the government shutdown continues into its second month, but it’s not clear how soon the funds could reach the accounts of SNAP recipients in Georgia. A spokesperson for the  state’s Department of Human Services, which is responsible for dispersing federal SNAP funds to Georgia residents, said Monday that the department is monitoring the situation closely, but did not offer a timeline for when November SNAP funds would become available for recipients.

“We will continue to follow official guidance from USDA as it becomes available,” DHS communications director Ellen Brown said in a statement. “We understand how important SNAP benefits are to Georgia families.”

The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment Monday. Gov. Brian Kemp has so far resisted calls to use state funds to keep food assistance flowing during the shutdown.  

In the meantime, organizations like MUST Ministries are trying to hold off hunger for families in need. 

MUST’s food pantries have been under strain in a way that they haven’t since the shutdowns and layoffs of the early pandemic, said Maurice Speaks, director of the ministries’ Cherokee County service center. 

“I would mirror it to COVID in March of 2020, when that hit,” he said. “The fear, the not knowing where you were going to get your next meal from, if the food was there, just the fear alone.”

It’s not just food people are needing, Speaks said. Parents sacrifice to feed their kids, and that means they often need help with things like clothes, gas or health care.

Speaks said churches, businesses and members of the community have pitched in to make sure they haven’t had to turn anyone away during the current crisis, and he’s hopeful that will remain the case until the situation is resolved, whenever that may be.

“That’s my prayer,” he said. “That’s what I believe when I open this building every morning, that we will have enough to service every family that comes through that door, and then when we need to rejuvenate what we’ve lost or we don’t have anymore, that God sends it.”

Other organizations, such as the Goodr Community Market on Edgewood, are also facing increased strain as federal SNAP funding hangs in the balance.

The community grocery store, which opened its doors in July, aims to serve low-income families and senior citizens in downtown Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood. The store provides an accessible option for groceries for nearby residents without reliable transportation. 

“Before we were here, [residents] had a 36 minute walk,” Goodr founder and CEO Jasmine Crowe-Houston said. “Now, on average they have a three to five minute walk. It makes a big difference for them.”

Through a grant from Invest Atlanta, the city’s official economic development authority, roughly 200 families each month get free access to up to $75 worth of groceries. The market was also approved to accept SNAP on Sept. 30, the day before the start of the shutdown. 

In the month since Goodr began accepting EBT cards, “we definitely saw an increase in our business,” Crowe-Houston said. “Honestly, I’m expecting that to decrease drastically.”

U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat who visited the market Monday, blamed congressional Republicans and the Trump administration for the ongoing shutdown, arguing that they are refusing to work with Democrats to find a compromise that would protect health care access for Americans.

“SNAP recipients were not in this fight, they were dragged into this fight by the administration,” he said. “[Republicans] are literally pitting sick people against hungry people. I can’t think of anything more craven than that.”

He also vowed to keep holding the line on health insurance access.

“As a voice for Georgia, I’m going to continue to fight for health care because it’s a matter of life and death, and I’m going to keep fighting for these SNAP recipients, because food is a matter of life and death,” he said. “And in the meantime, I’m grateful for people like Jasmine, just ordinary citizens who find creative ways to give poor people dignity.”

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