After a long career in tech, Stacy never imagined that she would be a recipient of a federal program that helps low-income households buy food. However, things changed after she left her job about 18 months ago and found herself trying to make ends meet as a single mother of two in Mountain View.
Earlier this year, Stacy, who asked to be identified only by her first name, applied for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as CalFresh in California, and was accepted, receiving about $800 a month for groceries.
“I was thrilled to discover that I was eligible and what a relief it gave me. It was just a huge relief,” she said. “I can’t even describe the way it changed my relationship to grocery shopping.”
Amid an ongoing government shutdown, SNAP benefits are now in peril, with recipients expected to stop receiving payments on Nov. 1.
Stacy’s predicament is shared by more than 133,000 individuals in Santa Clara County, and another roughly 35,000 in San Mateo County, who rely on CalFresh for food assistance. Local nonprofits like Second Harvest of Silicon Valley and the Community Services Agency in Mountain View have been trying to help people with food amid the funding uncertainties, but the need is massive.
Second Harvest already serves about 500,000 people a month, according to CEO Leslie Bacho. She expects the lines for charitable food assistance to get longer with the pause in SNAP benefits.
Looking for resources to receive food assistance? Want to find ways to help? Check out our local guide, listing organizations that are collecting and distributing food to those in need.
To prepare for a possible influx of people at its food pantry, the Community Services Agency recently allocated $30,000 for extra provisions, Executive Director Tom Myers said, emphasizing that it was just an initial allocation.
“We need to do more, and we don’t know yet what that more will be,” Myers said. “We just have to wait and see what happens in Washington.”
Anticipating a surge in food demand, the Community Services Agency sent out an email blast this week asking donors for more financial contributions. Myers noted that the agency buys bulk food at a better price than what is typically offered at grocery stores and can scale up quickly, ultimately serving more people.
But it is not only local organizations that are stepping up to try and cover the gap. Community members are also pitching in and providing direct assistance to those relying on CalFresh.
Direct food assistance for local moms
On Oct. 25, a mother posted a message to a Facebook group, Mountain View Moms, asking for donations of $90-$250 to support local families in need. That’s equivalent to about a week of SNAP benefits, depending on family size and household income.
In less than a week, more than 80 people signed up, raising nearly $13,000 to give to 67 mothers, the organizer said, who asked the Voice not to disclose her name.
Kris Geering, a Mountain View resident, was one of the sponsors in the Facebook group, providing a $100 gift card to cover a week of groceries for a mother who had indicated that she could use the financial assistance.
“I cannot imagine how terrifying it is to be a mom who’s trying to feed her kids and relying on that money and then it just evaporating,” Geering said. “I really liked this was a direct effort to connect with another family and help them immediately.”
Savanah Carrillo, a full-time college student in San Jose and mother of a nine-month-old, was one of the beneficiaries of the group’s gift cards. Carrillo receives $718 a month in SNAP benefits, which she uses to provide food for her family, including her boyfriend.
Without the benefits, Carrillo said that she would need to get a full-time job and find daycare for her son while also trying to stay in school. The financial assistance, a $180 Walmart gift card, was unexpected but appreciated, she said.
“When I saw that post on Facebook, it sounded too good to be true… but I didn’t have any room to question it,” Carrillo said. She sent verification of her SNAP benefits to the Facebook organizer and received the gift card the same day. “I just couldn’t be more grateful.”
Stacy, the Mountain View mother of two, similarly received a gift card through the Mountain View Moms Facebook group, which she said was particularly heartening, especially amid so much political and economic turmoil.
“It’s just been so good for my soul to see that people care like this and are showing up for each other,” she said.
What’s next for SNAP?
Even beyond the federal shutdown, the future of SNAP has been far from certain with more eligibility restrictions on the horizon. Starting Nov. 1, SNAP recipients will need to comply with work requirements as part of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which Congress passed in July.
A lot of people will fall off the benefit rolls, some because they can’t meet the work requirements and others because they can’t show proof of employment, according to Second Harvest’s Bacho. Next year, another part of the bill will kick in with states required to cover more of the SNAP benefits.
“It’s a real deterioration of the safety net that is already very fragile,” Bacho said.
The work requirement is a big concern for Stacy, who left what she described as a hostile work environment last year and is still experiencing health issues because of it. She also has a child who is autistic and needs a lot of help at home, she said.
“SNAP is a lifeline. If I don’t have that, that’s another $800 a month I don’t have,” Stacy said. “And that’s the difference between buying rice and beans or actually being able to buy healthy, fresh food for my kids.”
