The work requirements aren\u2019t new, but California has had a waiver<\/a> since 2008 because of its high unemployment rates. HR 1 has ended that waiver.\u00a0<\/p>\n Statewide, roughly 660,000 people<\/a> risk losing benefits, according to the California Legislative Analyst\u2019s Office. San Francisco\u2019s Human Services Agency (HSA) estimates that more than 19,300 people, 18 percent of city recipients, might lose CalFresh access. Advocates say that could be an undercount.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 said \u201csomeone from the city\u201d signed him up for CalFresh, but he\u2019s not sure how to reach them. When The Frisc asked if he\u2019s worried about losing benefits, he frowned and said, \u201cNow I am.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n First the immigrants<\/p>\n The effects of HR 1 will be more a steady trickle than a flood.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first milestone came on April 1, when certain classes of immigrants were kicked off the list. Those without lawful permanent residency (also known as a green card), including refugees, asylees, and those fleeing violence no longer qualify. New applicants will be turned away, and those already enrolled will be rejected when they recertify.\u00a0<\/p>\n HSA, which administers CalFresh locally, has identified fewer than 100 people in San Francisco under this umbrella, the agency\u2019s deputy director of economic support and self sufficiency Anna Pineda said during an April webinar<\/a>.<\/p>\n The changes coming June 1 will affect far more people, but \u201cit might take several months\u201d to see the full effect, says Monica Saucedo, senior policy fellow at the California Budget and Policy Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Lurie administration plans to use $34 million from an emergency fund to counter the cuts, according to the SF Standard<\/a>. The idea is to add 150 HSA staff members to help CalFresh recipients find work and keep their benefits. An HSA spokesperson says the money will pay for the \u201cadditional administrative work associated with the work requirements.\u201d (The extra funding also includes help for people at risk of losing Medi-Cal health benefits next year.)<\/p>\n People who are pregnant, have disabilities, have kids under 14, or are over 65 are still exempt from the work requirement. But most able-bodied adults without dependents will face scrutiny.\u00a0<\/p>\n When current recipients submit their annual re-registration, they\u2019ll have to show their work hours. If they\u2019re short, a clock starts ticking. They\u2019ll have three months to prove they\u2019re working 20 hours per week before losing grocery money. Because of rolling re-registration, Pineda estimates the change will only affect 112 San Franciscans on June 1.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t There\u2019s some flexibility about the work: it can be a paid job, a volunteer gig, or training.\u00a0<\/p>\n HR 1 also expands the pool of people who must work for food benefits to include homeless people, former foster youth, veterans, people with kids 14 and older (previously it was 18 and older), and seniors up to age 64. (The threshold was previously age 54.)\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Of the nearly 20 percent of the San Franciscans who risk losing benefits, HSA estimates<\/a> the majority are in the 94102 zip code, which includes the Tenderloin.\u00a0<\/p>\n Shifting the burden<\/p>\n The idea behind HR 1 is self-sufficiency: by requiring more people to work for their benefits, more people get jobs, and may eventually stop needing the aid.\u00a0<\/p>\n But research<\/a> shows work requirements don\u2019t tend to boost employment. And in places like the Bay Area with particularly high living costs, working people might still need assistance yet no longer qualify.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s what happened to Marcus Clayton years ago. \u201cI started working, and I guess I made too much money,\u201d Clayton, 42, says. He\u2019s a security guard, but lost his CalFresh benefits and now relies \u201con and off\u201d on Glide and St. Anthony\u2019s for hot meals. These options have lower barriers than federal programs and act as a stopgap.<\/p>\n \u201cJust because somebody\u2019s food benefits go away, it doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t hungry anymore,\u201d says St. Anthony\u2019s chief operations officer Laura Flannigan. \u201cThey still need food.\u201d<\/p>\n Some community organizations say they\u2019re already seeing higher demand. It\u2019s hard to say with certainty that CalFresh cuts are the cause, but when government benefits get harder to access, there\u2019s always a spike in food lines, staff say. \u201cWe\u2019re guessing it\u2019s a combination of things like [CalFresh cuts] and financial pressure from inflation,\u201d says Yves Xavier, food programs director at the Richmond Neighborhood Center, which serves about 1,500 people a week with a pantry and home-delivered groceries.\u00a0<\/p>\n The organization also helps people enroll in CalFresh, but those requests have all but stopped, says Xavier.\u00a0<\/p>\n The same is true at the Good Samaritan Family Resource Center on the city\u2019s southeast side. \u201cThe food banks, they\u2019re overwhelmed with requests,\u201d says executive director Mario Paz. But \u201cwe\u2019re seeing a big drop in public benefit enrollment.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s illegal<\/a> in California for state and local governments to share CalFresh recipients\u2019 immigrant status with federal agencies, but people on the front lines say Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown is discouraging applicants. \u201cPeople just go quiet\u201d even if they are legal immigrants, says Xavier. \u201cThey don\u2019t apply for programs that would likely benefit them because of fear.\u201d He emphasized that there could be other factors as well.<\/p>\n (A spokesperson for the SF-Marin Food Bank, the city\u2019s largest provider, responded to The Frisc\u2019s request for an interview with an apology: \u201cWe just don\u2019t have the bandwidth.\u201d)<\/p>\n Along with tighter rules, the high costs of gas<\/a>, rent<\/a>, and other goods put more people at risk of homelessness, says Paz: \u201cIf you have to make the choice between buying food and paying rent, you\u2019re probably going with food.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The federal cuts are part of a larger playbook to force more costs upon state and county governments, and by extension nonprofits. San Francisco\u2019s CalFresh bill will rise $26 million<\/a> this October, when the feds push off more of the program\u2019s administrative costs. The following year, another shift will add $36 million<\/a> more to SF\u2019s budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n The city\u2019s current budget is about $16 billion. The next one must be in place this summer. While the projected two-year $643 million deficit is an improvement<\/a> over previous estimates, Mayor Daniel Lurie is proposing $400 million in cuts and hundreds of layoffs<\/a>; his official budget is due by June 1, with tense negotiations to follow<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n What\u2019s the city\u2019s plan?\u00a0<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 won\u2019t be the only CalFresh recipient in San Francisco blindsided by the work rules. HSA has spent more than a year doing outreach<\/a> to nonprofit contractors and community members, according to a spokesperson. Last month the agency\u2019s Pineda asked partners to encourage clients to register online for easier recertification. But 70 percent of SF recipients still rely on snail mail, phone calls, and in-person visits to get their benefit information. It\u2019s possible that the extra $34 million from City Hall will help with the outreach.\u00a0<\/p>\n The city is also trying to help people with job placement<\/a>, training, and volu<\/a>nteer<\/a> services, all of which count toward the HR 1 requirement. It\u2019s unclear how much volunteer capacity there is in San Francisco. St. Anthony\u2019s has room for more, says COO Flannigan, but the Richmond Neighborhood Center says it\u2019s full up.\u00a0<\/p>\n Anticipating local budget cuts, nonprofits are revisiting strategies like referring clients to each other when they run out of meals or groceries. When CalFresh benefits lapsed during last October\u2019s federal government shutdown, the SF-Marin Food Bank had just wound down its Covid-era pop-up pantries<\/a> and was caught short by the sudden demand. The organization redirected people to other pantries; the Richmond Neighborhood Center says it absorbed about 500 of the Food Bank\u2019s clients.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Jose-Glide.jpeg\")
Jos\u00e9 relies on free meals from Glide along with CalFresh benefits. He didn\u2019t know about the changes coming to the program.<\/p>\n![\"Seniors](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Groceries-St-Anthony-SF-Marin-Food-Bank.jpeg\")
Most able-bodied adults under 65 will no longer be exempt from work requirements under new HR 1 rules. Here, seniors wait to receive groceries at St. Anthony\u2019s as part of a partnership with the SF-Marin Food Bank.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Trump\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Vendor-and-Shopper-HOTC-scaled.jpeg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Marcus-outside-Glide.jpeg\")
Marcus Clayton\u2019s income disqualifies him from CalFresh, so he often turns to organizations like Glide and St. Anthony\u2019s for meals. (Marcus agreed to be photographed if we didn\u2019t show his face.)<\/p>\n![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Laura-Flannigan-St-Anthony-COO-gets-ready-to-volunteer.jpeg\")
Laura Flannigan, chief operations officer at St. Anthony\u2019s, says that \u201cJust because somebody\u2019s food benefits go away, it doesn\u2019t mean they aren\u2019t hungry anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Line-for-Groceries.jpeg\")
Seniors wait to pick up groceries as part of a partnership between St. Anthony\u2019s and the SF-Marin Food Bank. Food banks are overwhelmed with requests after changes to CalFresh.<\/p>\n![\"Sign](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/St.-Anthonys-Sign.jpeg\")
St. Anthony\u2019s still has space for volunteers; other nonprofits are at capacity.<\/p>\n