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Dear Springboard to Opportunities Partners,

Normally, as we head into the final days of October, we’re sharing pictures of kids in costumes and highlights from our Halloween and Fall Festival events. Unfortunately, this year, we’re facing something far scarier as we come to the end of the month.

Starting November 1st, due to the government shutdown, the federal government will stop providing the monthly SNAP funds that families use to purchase groceries for their households. Despite having approximately $6 billion in SNAP contingency reserves available, the current administration has claimed it would be “illegal” to use these funds without appropriation from Congress.

But let’s be very clear about what is actually going on here: The administration is using people’s lives and their ability to feed their families as a leverage point for their own political power. There has been no hesitation before about using funds for projects without appropriation, and we know the USDA had written in using the contingency funds as part of their plan in the event of a government shutdown.

Instead, lawmakers are being given the false choice of fighting for essential health insurance subsidies that low- and moderate-income families desperately need to afford healthcare or ensuring 42 million Americans are able to put food on their table next month. While there is plenty of money for ballrooms and ICE agents, we somehow cannot find the funds to save millions of American families from literally starving.

In a survey of our Springboard families, we found that, on average, a family will lose $522.89 per month in SNAP benefits that they desperately need to buy groceries and feed their children. Our families work in jobs with wages that are not high enough to cover even the basic expenses of rent, utilities, child care, and food. Cutting off this lifeline will make it impossible to meet those demands.

YOU READ THE FULL NEWSLETTER HERE

Our October Highlights Include:

1. 1. Our pumpkin patches and Halloween events in all of our communities, ensuring that – even with limited funds – families have a space to celebrate together.

2. Our Workforce Systems and Education Advocacy fellows have been celebrating the end of their 9-month fellowships with trips to New Orleans, Louisiana and Montgomery, Alabama to visit sites like The Ruby Bridges Foundation and The Legacy Museum.

3. Three fellows traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to participate in the Child Care for Every Family Grassroots Assembly. While there, they connected with other parent and provider advocates and strategized how to build power for childcare advocacy across the Southeast.

Our Resident Spotlight: Deneader