CalFresh<\/a> benefits may be delayed for November due to the ongoing federal government shutdown. Benefits are not canceled, but the federal delay may impact when funds are available. Food resources can be searched at the links below. Call 2-1-1 for additional assistance.\u201d<\/p>\nBut if that information is clear, the outlook for about the estimated 310,000 locals who use CalFresh to help pay their food bill is murky.<\/p>\n
In the short term, local CalFresh clients will be able to turn to food pantries and food banks, which already are shifting their food supplies to adjust for a spike in need early next month. Many CalFresh clients already use food pantries, but usually later in the month, when their EBT food cards \u2013 which typically pay about $189 a month \u2013 run dry.<\/p>\n
But if CalFresh and SNAP don\u2019t get funding over several weeks, the dynamics of the county\u2019s charitable food network, which includes about 500-plus food pantries, could change.<\/p>\n
Locally, the charitable food world already is strained. Inflation and a sluggish economy have kept food lines close to or beyond what they were during the height of the pandemic. And if the federal crisis lasts more than a couple weeks, the influx of hungry people in food lines could force previously unimaginable decisions \u2013 including, eventually, food rationing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe community response plan is that everybody will stretch to make sure we keep the quality of care where it needs to be. For a couple weeks, that will work,\u201d Andrade said. \u201cBut the volume will increase. And beyond those first couple weeks, it\u2019s unclear what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
The surge already is showing up in new calls for 2-1-1 operators. Andrade said news of the deadline \u2013 plus the fact that it\u2019s been four weeks since a paycheck for many of the 10,000 federal workers who live in Orange County \u2014 has already prompted a wave of calls and texts. Though food availability typically is the second-most common question handled by 2-1-1 (after questions about emergency shelter), Andrade suggested that could change in coming weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only time we saw food outpacing housing was one week during COVID,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She added that the current funding crisis for federal food is comparable to the surge in need for food and housing during the pandemic, with one exception.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring COVID, there were extra supports, everybody understood there was a crisis,\u201d she said. \u201cThe biggest notable difference now is the lack of support.\u201d<\/p>\n
While 2-1-1 offers information about services to callers, Andrade said it\u2019s possible the food shutdown might mean more information about who is in need in Orange County.<\/p>\n
The income requirement for CalFresh is strict; a family of four qualifies if they earn $32,000 or less. And 6 in 10 local CalFresh recipients are lower-income children or seniors.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a choice people have made,\u201d Andrade said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, unfortunately, I think this (funding crisis) could have a broader economic impact. When food money is not available, there may be some necessity to pull from rent money or utility money.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be a long-lasting issue for a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The local call center that helps people find a bed or a mental health professional or emergency health…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":27040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,7,1752,6103,100,611,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-27039","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-anaheim","8":"tag-anaheim","9":"tag-anaheim-headlines","10":"tag-anaheim-news","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-congress","13":"tag-hunger","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-orange-county","16":"tag-top-stories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}