‘Tis the Season to Advocate

As Washington DC nears a potential decision on deficit reduction, St. Anthony’s joined with our friends at the California Partnership and the California Association for Retired Americans to talk to Senator Dianne Feinstein about how a potential deficit reduction deal would affect seniors, people with disabilities,  low-income people, and those experiencing hunger.

St. Anthony’s role in this meeting was to talk about how potential cuts to the SNAP program , known as CalFresh (formerly “food stamps”) in California, would affect poor people in our state.  If the SNAP cuts that have been discussed by Congress are approved, 200,000 Californians face CalFresh benefit reductions averaging $43/month if a proposal to limit the “heat and eat” program is adopted as part of a deficit reduction deal.  In addition, a proposal to limit categorical eligibility would affect 2 to 3 million Americans, and a significant number of California households.  These families would lose eligibility for CalFresh and children in those households would no longer be directly certified for free school meals.

With the SNAP minimum benefit at $16 per month and the average CalFresh benefit worth $1.61 per meal, hungry Californians can’t afford to lose out on additional benefits.  And, with only 53% of eligible Californians participating in the CalFresh program, California can’t afford to lose categorical eligibility, which simplifies the process for enrolling in CalFresh benefits.

St. Anthony’s Dining Room serves low income people who don’t qualify for CalFresh, like the low-income seniors and people with disabilities who receive SSI benefits, as well as people who do qualify for benefits but find that it is near impossible to survive on benefit levels of less than $2 per meal.

If you’re concerned about these issues, too, the time to speak up is now.  Click here to find the contact information for your Senators.  Call them or send them an email and let them know what you think our country’s budget priorities should be.