Federal shutdown may be near its end, but work to help those affected in Flint continues

By Kate Stockrahm

While the federal shutdown may be nearing an end, organizations that stepped in to support those whose SNAP benefits and paychecks remain in limbo are still working overtime.

“We need to make sure that food is being distributed out into the community, because the need is growing by the day,” said Jordan Brown, Vice President of SIPI, Inc., a capacity-building group that works with partner organizations like St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center and St. Mark Community Outreach Center, which both offer food distribution programs.

“I can say anecdotally, this morning, I went and volunteered for an hour and a half or so at St. Mark’s just to help prep, and they had a line by nine o’clock that was down Mcclellan [Street],” Brown explained on Nov. 5, adding that the line then went around the corner and onto Iroquois Ave. “It was all the way down that block too – and beyond. So the need is great, and I think people are worrying.”

For Crossover Outreach, a faith-based nonprofit near downtown Flint that offers clothing, food, and services to those in need, October saw a roughly 30% increase in new visitors, or people who had never sought the nonprofit’s help before.

“We had a discussion with our board that, you know, we’re going to do our best to ask people to donate these things, to ask people to donate money to help to build that up and supplement,” said outgoing Executive Director Denise Diller. “But the reality is, we will go over budget in order to be able to serve these people.”

Diller said that Crossover usually operates on around $35,000 annually, but given the influx of people in need through the shutdown, she and incoming executive director Tiffany Sommers made the call to ask Crossover’s board to pull funding from the nonprofit’s “rainy day fund.”

“We don’t want to have to dip into it, we want to keep that,” Diller said. “But this is a rainy day.”

Sommers, who has been tracking programming numbers throughout the shutdown as the nonprofit’s current development officer, noted that not everyone new that visited Crossover in October may’ve been dealing with their SNAP (short for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits being withheld.

“Maybe it was SNAP, but maybe it was them freaking out that ‘I’m not going to have food, so do I need to get ahead of this?’” she said, noting that the shutdown had coalesced with Outreach’s coat distribution and holiday food baskets, too. “Life happens,” Sommers added. “Maybe somebody lost a job, or something happened in their life to put them in crisis mode.”

The point is, both Diller and Sommers noted, that many support-providing organizations had already made their plans and orders for October and November before it became clear that the federal shutdown would be the longest in history and include an ongoing halt to SNAP funding.

And while everyone is doing their best to meet the growing need in Flint, Diller said, they shouldn’t have to.

“Humans should not be used as bargaining chips in politics,” she said. “I don’t care where you land on the political spectrum. The reason that SNAP has never been a part of it is because it’s always been an agreed upon thing that we don’t play with people.”

Those in need of food can visit the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan’s website for a calendar of all food distribution sites and timing this month. The City of Flint has also launched a food voucher program to support SNAP recipients and federal employees who are without paychecks, though it seems to be off to a rocky start according to reporting from Mid-Michigan NOW.

Those in a position to donate items, money, or time to area organizations’ efforts can find a list of many county resource providers and their contact information through the Genesee County Library and the FBEM website. East Village Magazine will also post a list of Thanksgiving turkey giveaways and meals in the coming week, and we welcome social media comments on this article to include other resource-providers looking for support.

“I think most of the organizations are communicating their needs via social media and their newsletters so that people know what resources they’re looking for,” Brown said of how Flint residents can help out. “And that’s one thing that I’d also recommend before you show up at any organization with a donation of food or coats or things like that this season: really take a look at their website and see what opportunities there are to donate.”

Diller echoed Brown’s advice, noting that there are lots of organizations already in place to help people through the shutdown’s ongoing effects. She suggested finding one that’s local and meaningful to you rather than trying to start something new amid so much community need, as many extant providers are in a better position to stretch dollars or volunteerism to help as many people as possible.

“We’ve been here 34 years,” Diller said. “We’re going to continue doing what we do. We’re going to continue doing it for the reason that we do it, and any help that we can get along the way to make sure that that continues to happen [is so appreciated]. Because this [shutdown] – this is a very extreme reason that we’re needed, but it’s not the only reason that we’re needed. And that need continues, even if this is solved.”