Leah Hibbs usually gets $156 a month in food stamps. She only received half of that Monday when the Oklahoma Department of Human Services issued partial payments for November.
“I’m grateful to have it, but it’s not really enough,” Hibbs said. “I got what I needed for a few days, but it still didn’t cover (much). I didn’t even have enough money to get some personal things.”
Her friend, Deanna Wooden, also received half of her usual $280 worth of food stamps. She also receives Supplemental Security Income. But even with full benefits Wooden says she is no stranger to deciding between food and other expenses, like the internet.
“I would have to say I’ve gone to bed hungry a lot,” she said.
Both Wooden and Hibbs have had to rely on food banks while the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has been on hold due to the government shutdown, now the longest shutdown in U.S. history.
On Monday, OKDHS said it received the green light from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue partial SNAP payments, but eligibility requirements from the USDA limited who would receive the payments and how much they would receive.
In the meantime, OKDHS says a portion of the $7 million in emergency food bank funds is providing some SNAP recipients with food boxes filled with shelf-stable items, like canned proteins, vegetables, grains and snacks. The boxes include 21 meals, according to the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.
Oklahomans can request a food box using this referral form, and the food bank will email qualified applicants once the boxes are ready to be shipped to their home or pantries. The first 4,000 boxes will be shipped Nov. 18.
The U.S. House of Representatives returned to Washington, D.C. Wednesday to vote on reopening the government. This follows the Trump administration’s push to keep full SNAP payments frozen until Congress reached a budget deal.
Wooden says the timing of the shutdown is unfortunate, especially so close to Thanksgiving, but she’s still glad to have received something.
“I am so happy and grateful to get what I did, because eating the same canned food over and over again was getting really disheartening,” she said.
Follow the Flyer’s coverage on SNAP changes in Oklahoma, including a list of resources here.
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