At a press conference on Wednesday morning in Winston-Salem, officials and civic leaders addressed the federal government shutdown. The potential impact on nutrition assistance programs was front and center.
If the shutdown continues, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will no longer issue benefits in North Carolina starting Saturday. This leaves local leaders scrambling to fill a roughly $130 million hole.
Crisis Control Ministry Executive Director Margaret Elliott says preparation and coordination are needed locally across sectors — from nonprofits, to health care to local businesses
"One thing I've learned over the years is that we have a very generous and caring community, especially when crises hit," says Elliott. "I will also say that while it is great that we all work together, the impact of the current government shutdown cannot be covered by nonprofits. But we’ll do our very best to address the local need as much as we can.
Elliot says Crisis Control will be on standby to provide emergency food and baby formula assistance to the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, which is also under threat by the government shutdown.
Forsyth County Manager Shontell Robinson says that while the county is responsible for administering both programs, these vital lifelines are funded with federal dollars.
"Food is a basic human need," she says. "No one in Forsyth County should go hungry. The idea that thousands of children, babies and families in our community could face a food deficit is simply unacceptable. Even with robust support, food banks can only provide a fraction of the nutritional assistance that federal programs like SNAP and WIC can provide."
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is urging current SNAP and WIC recipients to continue to apply and renew paperwork on time. County offices will process documents even if the shutdown continues.