A Dallas nonprofit is raising concerns that the ongoing freeze on federal SNAP benefits could soon cause a housing crisis for working families.

Interfaith Family Services, which helps families avoid or overcome homelessness, says it’s already seeing a sharp increase in requests for help with rent and utilities. Applications for assistance through its rent and utilities fund have jumped from roughly 1,000 to more than 1,600, and the number keeps climbing.

Kimberly Williams, CEO of Interfaith Family Services, says the pause on benefits has exposed how fragile many working families’ budgets already are.

“The SNAP freeze is causing what Interfaith sees every day for working-class families to happen to 42 million people nationwide,” Williams said. “When you have a very modest income, it’s very difficult to stretch it to ensure that little things, you know, to us like phone, food bills, rent, utilities are paid. In fact, there was a study that said that for working-class families, there’s only $250 left after all the bills are paid at the end of the month.”

Williams said that with that federal support frozen, families are being forced to make impossible choices.

“A little-known fact is that the majority of SNAP recipients are working,” she said. “And so what they’re having to do right now is determine what is most important. Although food banks exist and we have a food pantry at Interfaith, SNAP provides nine times the meals that all U.S. food banks could provide combined. So that means a lot of families are going to have to determine whether or not they are going to feed their kids today or pay rent tomorrow. And that’s a very difficult decision.”

To prepare, Interfaith began stocking its food pantry last month when the government shutdown began, knowing the SNAP pause would follow.

“Once we realized that November SNAP assistance was frozen and delayed, we started working with members of our community and board to put together food boxes to ensure that none of the families that we serve will go without this November,” Williams said. “We’re busy doing that now, and we’ll distribute this week.”

Still, Williams says the organization is bracing for an even bigger wave of families needing rental assistance – potentially surpassing what they saw during the pandemic.

“We are definitely putting the word out regarding our rent and utilities assistance fund,” she said. “During COVID, we were giving out almost $200,000 of rent and utility assistance. And so we expect a surge that is far above our existing budget for that. So we’re asking community members to donate so that we can keep families, working families in their homes this holiday season.”

Williams also worries about the long-term toll these surges take on nonprofits.

“In fact, we’ve seen twice as many nonprofit closures in the last three years as we did prior to COVID, just because of the strain of the service that no one was expecting and anticipating,” she said. “If these types of issues continue to exist, I am concerned about what it will do to the nonprofit sector moving forward — because these huge surges in demand have a big impact, not only on budgets, but also on staff and staff burnout.”

The effects could also soon reach local eviction courts.

The Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, which provides free legal assistance to families facing eviction, said they are also preparing for an increase in cases once families miss November rent. The center says, in some cases, eviction can happen in as few as 15 days, though it typically takes closer to 30 days.

Williams hopes community support for her organization and others can help lessen the blow for struggling families in the weeks ahead.

“As we prepare for this holiday season, I would really encourage people to make charitable giving a major part of their holiday plans for you and for your children,” she said. “Our neighbors are going to need our help. And many of them are going about their day smiling and doing the best they can, without a lot of people knowing the type of burden they’re bearing.”

To learn more about Interfaith’s rent assistance fund, click here.