More than a quarter of Akron’s residents — 51,727 people — rely on federal aid to feed themselves each month.
And across Summit County, more than one in 10 residents receive help from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. That means that if food aid isn’t distributed next month as a result of the federal government shutdown, 77,160 residents across 31 communities will lose access to benefits that allowed them to eat, Greta Johnson, the assistant chief of staff for Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro, said Tuesday.
The fight over SNAP is part of an ongoing tug-of-war over federal benefits that will be delayed as part of the federal government shutdown. It brought U.S. Rep. Emilia Sykes (D-Akron) to her district for a press conference Tuesday, when she was supposed to be in Washington, D.C., and led to dueling efforts from Republican and Democratic state leaders about who is responsible for the impasse, and who can solve it.
Leaders in 25 states and Washington, D.C., sued the Trump administration Tuesday, asking that it use money in a contingency fund to pay for SNAP benefits, formerly known as food stamps. Ohio is not a party to the lawsuit.
Instead, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, in a letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer signed by 18 attorneys general, called SNAP “one of the simplest and most effective ways to prevent hunger in America.” He said 1.4 million Ohio residents would lose access across the state and blamed Senate Democrats for the fact that no agreement has been reached to keep the government open.
But Sykes, at a press conference Tuesday at Summit County’s Russell M. Pry Building, said finger-pointing doesn’t feed children. Throughout the year, she said, she’s been told that Republicans — who hold the presidency, the Senate and the House of Representatives — have a mandate to govern.
“I am asking them to govern,” she said.
In past government shutdowns, she said, agreements had been reached to continue to provide benefits to people.
“Congress made funds available. The administration is choosing not to feed our families,” she said. “Our safety net is not a bargaining chip. It’s a promise.”
‘People are scared and looking for answers’
Summit County Council members on Monday agreed to give the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank an additional $250,000, and Johnson urged other communities to increase their support as well.
The food bank was already seeing more need in its eight-county region than it had seen since 2019, Katie Carver Reed, the vice president and chief operating officer of the food bank, said previously. Raven Gayheart, the food bank’s spokesperson, said in an email Tuesday that there will be a definite disruption to benefits if the shutdown doesn’t end Wednesday.
Over the past few weeks, the food bank has served 600 families a day, Gayheart said. On Monday, it served 721 families.
“We’ve also received dozens of emails, phone calls and messages on social media from worried families, wondering how they can find help, some who have never had to seek help before,” she wrote.
Stephanie Carothers, the deputy director of Family and Adult Services for Summit County, said her staff has been inundated with calls.
“People are scared and looking for answers,” Carothers said. “Unfortunately, at this point, we do not have clear guidance about what will happen next.”
In the meantime, Sykes and Johnson said, the county is stepping into the gap to help fill the need. Summit County Executive Ilene Shapiro said the county’s contribution would buy 750,000 meals, but that the money wouldn’t go far enough.
She called it an untenable situation.
“SNAP is a lifeline for many of our families and struggling individuals,” Shapiro said. “There’s nothing political about ensuring that struggling families with children, older adults and individuals with disabilities have the benefits they need to put food on their table.”
Yost, in his letter, said letting benefits lapse while political negotiations drag on sends the wrong message to people. Sykes said it’s impossible to negotiate without willing partners.
The issue should be about more than politics, she said, noting that there is no federal guarantee that if Ohio and other states step up to pay the benefits, they will be reimbursed.
Johnson, with the county, compared the current uncertainty to the day-to-day nature of the coronavirus pandemic. While she said there will be tough decisions to make if the shutdown continues, the county is there to provide aid.
“We will continue to stand in the gap,” Johnson said.
How and where to get food assistance in the Akron area
Help finding food is available by calling 211 or on the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank website, which has searchable food options by geography and hours of operation.
Carver Reed said her food pantry is available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It also has a popup food truck that travels.
The food bank supplies 628 hunger relief programs across the region. Different programs have different requirements about how often a person can use them, but there is no limit to how many food pantries one can visit. The food bank allows people to use its services once a week.
To access the food bank, people need to provide their name and ZIP code, as well as tell providers they do not earn more than 200% of the federal poverty level, which is $31,300 for an individual and $64,300 for a family of four. They do not have to show an ID.
How to help provide meals for Akron families
The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank accepts donations of food and money, as well as volunteers. So do other organizations that provide food, including Asian Services in Action Inc. and the International Institute of Akron. Gayheart said every dollar donated helps provide enough food for three meals.