ORLANDO, Fla. — It’s going to take work from the state, down to the county, down to nonprofits and individuals to help the community in this time of need.
What You Need To Know
What sets this situation apart, unlike the recession of 2008, the pandemic in 2020 or even hurricane recovery? SNAP has always been there.
From housing, to food, to everyday expenses, it all has a ripple effect with the government shutdown.
The shutdown could cross into record breaking length this week.
UCF politics professor said there could be a turning point this week for lawmakers to compromise.
What sets this situation apart, unlike the recession of 2008, the pandemic in 2020 or even hurricane recovery? SNAP has always been there.
“It is just too much too fast for too many families,” said Eric Gray, the executive director at the Christian Service Center. Gray said SNAP doesn’t just impact your ability to get food. It’s a budget item to help families apply for housing assistance.
“If you wipe out SNAP as one of those budgetary line items, that could change someone’s ability to even apply for emergency assistance if they happen to need it in this particular month,” Gray said.
From housing, to food, to everyday expenses, it all has a ripple effect with the government shutdown.
“What we need people to know is here in Orange County, about 1/3 of our people are really working total paycheck to paycheck. Any glitch in their income or distribution of benefits that they get puts them totally underwater,” said Kelly Semrad, the Orange County commissioner in District 5.
People are feeling the pinch, but when will lawmakers hit a breaking point to come to compromise?
“It begins to look like there is some talking going on and that is a crucial first step,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political professor at UCF.
Jewett said there are a few things that could lead to compromise. President Trump is back after being overseas, and both sides of the aisle might be willing to budge after Tuesday’s Election Day results are known.
“If the vast majority of Americans say, ‘Look I think you are both to blame, and we are mad, and we want you to do something about it,’ maybe that will also put a little more pressure on the decision makers to compromise and get the government back open,” Jewett said.
One thing both sides can agree on, the longer it goes, the more harm to the economy and everyday people. “The food bank networks in the community, the nonprofits like mine, they cannot respond to this at scale,” Gray said. “This is going to be something we have to fix from an advocacy standpoint.”
Awareness of the situation and how to help, that is the goal right now from community leaders, who say donate if you can and go get help if you need it. it.