{"id":29910,"date":"2025-11-02T04:39:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-02T04:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/29910\/"},"modified":"2025-11-02T04:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-02T04:39:09","slug":"its-unfair-snap-cuts-leave-central-florida-seniors-struggling-for-food","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/29910\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s unfair:\u2019 SNAP cuts leave Central Florida seniors struggling for food"},"content":{"rendered":"

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 SNAP benefits for thousands of families here in Central Florida are cut off<\/a>, leaving many scrambling to afford the food they need, including local seniors. Many have medical needs that require special diets, and they say food banks just can\u2019t always meet them.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a citizen and being on the income that I\u2019m on\u2014it is hard. To tell you the truth, it\u2019s unfair,\u201d said senior Shirley Williford, who is among those impacted by the delay.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Williford and another local senior, Kim Augenstein, received notifications that their SNAP benefits for November would be pushed back. For Williford, who lives on a fixed income and doesn\u2019t have transportation, it\u2019s a nightmare.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only have high blood pressure. I kind of went on a diet myself. The food that I need for my diet\u2014I\u2019m not going to be able to get it,\u201d Williford said.<\/p>\n

Augenstein, who was recently diagnosed with diabetes, said losing those benefits could put her health at risk. \u201cWhen you\u2019re almost a diabetic or you are a diabetic, you have to have that food for your insulin. If you go without food, that\u2019s a big problem,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

[VIDEO: Central Florida food programs face challenges as federal SNAP support stops]<\/p>\n

Now, the seniors are relying on local organizations in Osceola County, such as Clarita\u2019s House Outreach Ministries and the Black Empowerment and Community Council, which are already seeing a rising demand.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies are already so tight with money and resources. For us to be at this critical time, it\u2019s important that we rally together,\u201d said Tiffany Jeffers with the Black Empowerment and Community Council.<\/p>\n

But those groups say the ongoing government shutdown is also limiting the resources they can offer. \u201cThe grant writers keep saying we can\u2019t do this one or that one. So many programs are being cut. Some of the grants we would normally get\u2014recurring grants\u2014we\u2019re no longer getting, and that\u2019s definitely because of government funding,\u201d said Doreen Barker, founder of Clarita\u2019s House Outreach Ministries.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, seniors are helping each other by sharing rides and picking up groceries\u2014but they\u2019re still hoping the shutdown ends soon. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it needs to be cut down. It doesn\u2019t need to be cut off\u2014because I depend on those food stamps,\u201d Williford said.<\/p>\n

The Black Empowerment and Community Council is partnering with Solid Rock Community Church in Kissimmee and AARP next week to distribute food and resources to those impacted by the SNAP delays.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2025 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 SNAP benefits for thousands of families here in Central Florida are cut off, leaving…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29911,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,2582,1975,1976,99,414],"class_list":{"0":"post-29910","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-florida-headlines","10":"tag-florida-news","11":"tag-government-shutdown","12":"tag-kissimmee","13":"tag-osceola-county","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-snap"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29910"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29910\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}