{"id":365975,"date":"2026-06-18T17:30:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T17:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/365975\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T17:30:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T17:30:34","slug":"opinion-h-r-1-has-left-thousands-in-san-diego-struggling-to-feed-their-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/365975\/","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: H.R.1 has left thousands in San Diego struggling to feed their families"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Providing<\/a>Providing free meals at Father Joe\u2019s Villages. (Photo courtesy of the homeless services nonprofit)<\/p>\n

On May 15, our drive-through food pantry on E Street ran out of food for the first time\u00a0ever, after distributing over 700 meals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On May 29, hundreds of cars were already lined up along the block before we even opened our doors. Within just a couple of hours, our staff was forced to ration what little food remained until we finally ran out. Those dozens of families, whom we weren\u2019t able to serve, went home hungry.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Opinion<\/a><\/p>\n

These are scenes that have repeated week after week ever since H.R. 1<\/a> \u2014 the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in 2025 \u2014 prohibited immigrant families from being able to access food stamps. This crisis shows no sign of abating. For years, the San Diego Hunger Coalition has reported that 1 in 4 San Diegans experience food insecurity<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As of June 1, people enrolled in CalFresh<\/a> will be required to work or volunteer at least 80 hours a month, save for a narrow range of exemptions, to qualify for food stamps. Hundreds more San Diegans will now struggle to find enough food to sustain themselves and their families.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These exemptions do not take someone\u2019s housing insecurity into account. Yet people experiencing homelessness face great barriers in being able to find employment or volunteer opportunities. <\/p>\n

Even if someone does qualify for an exemption, such as having a disability, being able to collect the documentation and care necessary to prove as such can be difficult without support. People experiencing homelessness often lack mailing addresses, reliable transportation or professional clothing \u2014 all things which are necessary for securing nearly any reliable job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The impact of chronic hunger and malnutrition <\/a>cannot be understated: it means people are more prone to illness and low energy. This makes it more difficult for people to get the support they need to transition out of homelessness, especially in terms of finding and keeping a job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For young children, malnutrition is especially impairing<\/a>: they are less able to learn or fall asleep<\/a>; they are more likely to experience ill health and they may even experience developmental delays.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We must be clear: Father Joe\u2019s Villages has always been committed to meeting our community\u2019s needs as soon as they emerge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our E Street Pantry was there for people when the government shutdown left many cut off from CalFresh. We will continue to provide immediate relief to as many families as we can, even as demand continues to rise, whether this be through our pantry, delivering frozen meals or by offering warm meals through our Franklin Antonio Public Lunch Program.<\/p>\n

In addition, we prepare our clients to navigate the changes to their CalFresh eligibility. Those who are able to work can receive the support they need through our Employment and Education Center, which provides certifications, training, professional clothing and more to help our neighbors secure their next job. And those who are unable to work can receive support in applying for benefits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But as more and more of our unhoused neighbors find themselves subject to the impact of H.R. 1 and cuts to CalFresh, we and other providers need support so that we can meet our community\u2019s increasing needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We ask that our elected officials do all they can to identify funding sources that will keep and expand food assistance programs. Where our federal government has fallen short is where our state and local governments must step in to fill the gaps.<\/p>\n

As for Father Joe\u2019s Villages, we work tirelessly to ensure that no San Diegan, whether housed or not, goes hungry. Our community, now more than ever, must stand against hunger and malnutrition. We\u00a0 must not accept that hunger and hardship are inevitable for our most vulnerable neighbors.<\/p>\n

Deacon Jim Vargas is president and CEO of\u00a0Father Joe\u2019s Villages<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Want to submit a letter to the editor, guest column or\u00a0opinion\u00a0piece? Find our guidelines and submission form\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Providing free meals at Father Joe\u2019s Villages. (Photo courtesy of the homeless services nonprofit) On May 15, our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[3302,31340,14608,98369,6103,74,76,75,139598],"class_list":["post-365975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-calfresh","tag-father-joes-villages","tag-food-stamps","tag-h-r-1","tag-hunger","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-work-requirements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365975","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=365975"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365975\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}