Beginning Saturday, Nov. 1, Sacramento County residents who rely on CalFresh, California’s version of the federal SNAP program, are due to stop receiving benefits indefinitely as the government shutdown halts funding. That will affect nearly 270,000 county residents who depend on the monthly aid for food. With no timeline for the shutdown’s end, local officials warn of a growing food crisis that could worsen poverty, strain the local economy, and push more residents toward homelessness.
For Dennis McGlothen, 58, the $298 a month he receives in food assistance is his only income.
“That’s all I have. That’s all I get because I can’t work,” said McGlothen, a former occupant of Camp Resolution who was housed in July. “I’m very concerned, not just for myself, but what about other people — people that’s older than me and can’t go out to get a hustle? It’s going to be very bad if people don’t get their food stamps.”
Before being housed, McGlothen often cooked for others at the encampment and shared what little food he had. He said food benefits are vital for survival, especially for people with no family or support. He worries that if benefits stop, desperation will drive people to crime.
“There’s probably going to be more theft going on. People are going to have to do what they have to do,” he said. “And then, you know, we’ll get blamed for crime going up — people going to jail because of something that’s not our fault. We still got to eat.
“If it [benefits loss] actually happens, you don’t know how far a person would go when they have to do what they can to survive.”
The Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance and the Department of Homeless Services and Housing have alerted CalFresh recipients through text messages, social media, and community partners. “Because of the shutdown, at this time CalFresh benefits will not be funded for the month of November,” the county said in a statement, noting that “thousands of children will be affected.”
Ethan Dye, the county’s director of human assistance, said the department is working to ensure accurate information reaches residents. “This federal shutdown has created significant uncertainty for families who rely on CalFresh,” he said. “While the county does not control federal funding, our focus is on making sure residents have clear information and know where to turn for local resources.”
According to county data, 88,000 CalFresh recipients are under 18, 48,000 are 60 or older, and 241,000 are enrolled in both Medi-Cal and CalFresh.
Early this month, the food assistance program Women Infants and Children received a limited infusion of tariff funds from the White House to keep the program running during the shutdown, but the measure is temporary and expected to last only a few weeks. State agencies warn they cannot plan beyond that and already are reducing services. Other child nutrition programs, such as school lunch and breakfast programs, will continue operating in the short term, while summer meal programs remain unaffected. The Department of Agriculture has issued a contingency plan, but the long-term outlook depends on how long the shutdown continues.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Oct. 22 the deployment of the California National Guard and California Volunteers to assist food banks as the federal shutdown delays food benefits for millions of families. He is also fast-tracking up to $80 million in state aid, mirroring the emergency response that helped distribute more than 800 million meals during the pandemic.
“Trump’s failure … it’s literally taking food out of people’s mouths. Millions of Americans rely on food benefits to feed their families, and while Republicans in Washington drag their feet, California is stepping up once again to fill in the gaps,” Newsom said in a statement.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Tuesday that his office and a coalition of states are suing the Department of Agriculture for suspending SNAP food benefits during the shutdown.
Carlos Marquez III, executive director of the County Welfare Directors Association of California, told KCRA 3 that county agencies are usually in the position of reassuring residents that their benefits are stable. This time, he said, local administrators are being forced to warn families about an imminent loss of aid.
“These are core safety net programs. After all, they’re some of the greatest tools that we have as a state to fight and reduce poverty,” Marquez said.
Marquez told KCRA 3 that the shutdown’s effects extend beyond CalFresh households and into the broader economy. Across California, about 25,000 retailers — mostly grocery stores — are authorized to accept SNAP benefits. Those transactions support approximately 175,000 jobs and generate about $23 billion in annual economic activity. For every dollar spent through SNAP, roughly $1.50 circulates back into the economy, he said, amplifying the program’s local impact.
“The impacts are significant and go beyond these individuals,” Marquez said. “But these are folks who are seniors, these are people who have disabilities, these are children.” He added that about 60% of CalFresh recipients are employed, illustrating that food insecurity affects working families as well.
Marquez also outlined three points he wants the public to understand. Recipients will be entitled to back benefits once federal funding resumes, even if November payments are delayed. Remaining balances on EBT cards from October can be used throughout November. And people should continue to apply for CalFresh, since eligible families will receive benefits retroactively when the government reopens.
“We need to sound the alarm as the administrators of these programs at this moment in time because the consequences are significant, not just for recipients, but for the broader economy,” Marquez said.
Community advocates said the halt will hit low-income families hardest.
Herman Barahona, co-founder of the Sacramento Environmental Justice Coalition, said many organizations are waiting for state direction and that food banks lack the capacity to meet the coming demand. “The State of California would have to make some announcements on what happens on Nov. 1,” he said. “We’re holding to see if there are any agreements to fund it [SNAP] through state sources or to develop new efforts to supply food for people. We don’t know what’s going to happen with people who cannot buy food in November other than going to the food banks, which we know do not have capacity to serve 267,000 people.”
Barahona said Sacramento’s food insecurity crisis has persisted for years and reflects systemic failures that predate the current shutdown. He described the connection between food assistance and housing as part of a “pipeline to homelessness,” explaining that many unhoused residents once relied on programs like CalFresh or Medi-Cal before losing stability.
“These numbers have been high for a while now,” he said. “All of the folks that end up on the streets have, at some point, faced all kinds of conditions that throw them into the streets.”
He said the crisis shows the need for stronger prevention efforts and long-term investment, noting that the poorest residents always bear the brunt of national and local emergencies. Barahona also pointed to the state’s failure to meet its affordable housing commitments, arguing that California’s wealth — the state has the world’s fourth largest economy — should translate into better results.
“Many people are going to make very tough decisions to choose to stay housed or to pay for food or their medications,” he said. “Both parties, left or right, liberal or conservative, need to protect the poor, not demonize them or marginalize them further.”
Crystal Sanchez, president of the Sacramento Homeless Union, said the loss of CalFresh will ripple throughout the economy. “Grocers lose tons of customers right away,” she said. “SNAP spending accounts for billions every year at grocery stores, and when that disappears, stores in low-income neighborhoods get hit first and hardest,” she said. “The whole local economy starts to crumble. Cutting SNAP doesn’t just mean empty stomachs — it triggers a public health emergency.”
Sanchez said reduced spending means layoffs, smaller paychecks, and cuts to city services. “When SNAP disappears, the pain doesn’t stay at the bottom, it quickly climbs all the way up the ladder,” she said.
Sanchez also pointed out that food insecurity can become a public health and housing crisis. She said families facing hunger make impossible choices — skipping meals, diluting food, or rationing medicine to get by. Children who go to school hungry struggle to learn, while seniors forgo prescriptions to stretch their budgets.
“When people have the basics, everyone benefits — not just SNAP families, but every business and worker connected to the food industry and beyond,” Sanchez said. “Keeping SNAP going is how we keep the whole economy and all our families from falling off a cliff. When we pull SNAP, we pull the rug out from under everyone.”
McGlothen said if SNAP payments stop, he plans to get by with help from family, food banks, and local donors. Many others, he said, won’t have that safety net. “A lot of people that are homeless don’t have family or have lost contact with their family,” he said. “I do have family that I can depend on getting stuff from or from donors and I can go to the food banks.”
He said he still tries to help others when he can, keeping food ready in case someone comes by his home hungry. “My friends come by every day to take a shower or because they are hungry. I got something in there cooking right now on my stove just in case somebody comes by and they’re hungry.
“Nobody should ever go hungry.”
EDITOR’S NOTE:This is being reported with the support of the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s 2025 Ethnic Media Collaborative, Healing California.
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