MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — More than 138,000 people in Mecklenburg County receive SNAP benefits each month. That’s more than 11% of the county. County officials and their partners are preparing for a crisis if SNAP does not receive proper funding.
“No county in North Carolina, including Mecklenburg County, has the financial resources to supplement that level of funding,” County Manager Mike Bryant said. “However, we are engaging with our many community and food resource partners to mobilize a plan to ensure that Mecklenburg County residents and families will have access to the food they need.”
Mecklenburg County is planning to provide more than $700,000 in assistance next week.
Southwest Charlotte resident Tommie Purvis dressed in the Halloween spirit ahead of her shift Friday night at Family Dollar.
But she says what’s really scary is what’s happening in Washington with SNAP benefits and its impact on people like her.
“People are stressed, and they don’t know how they are going to feed their family and their children,” she said.
Nourish Up is worried too. The nonprofit runs a network of emergency food pantries and has never faced a crisis like this.
“When our phone lines open at 8:30 and run until 4:30, there’s not a two-second gap from phone call to phone call. So yes, everybody is in panic mode,” CEO Tina Postel said. “Our busiest month on record, we served almost 17,000 people. There are 140,000 people that are due to lose their SNAP benefits here in our community this month. My superhero cape is not big enough to shoulder that load.”
The food pantries are busy in Gaston County as well. Outside Dallas Christian Ministries, Cecelia Summers said she takes care of her three grandchildren and gets $178 in benefits a month.
“It helps me to make it through the month,” she said.
A federal judge is ordering the Trump Administration to continue funding SNAP through the shutdown. Purvis hopes that it prevents disaster.
“I’m like, okay, so if you can overrule it, make something happen for us,” she said.
VIDEO: NC residents plead for continued SNAP assistance amid shutdown uncertainty
This browser does not support the video element.