It appears as of late last night that America’s looming SNAP crisis may be coming to an end as the U.S. Senate finally passed a bill that could reopen the government.
Pleasant Grove resident Krystal Barrett isn’t parsing the politics; she’s been wondering how she’s going to feed her two sons, who are both on the autism spectrum.
Barrett is a single mother and relies on the $685 per month she has been getting from SNAP for the past three years to put food on the table. She works when she can, doing the occasional DoorDash delivery, taking pet sitting jobs when available and donating plasma.
“The plasma donations bought the milk, bread and eggs for this week,” Barrett said.
APR interviewed Barrett on Thursday, in the midst of turmoil over whether the administration of President Donald Trump would be forced by a federal court to fully fund SNAP benefits for the month. Numerous developments occurred over the next 96 hours, as the courts went back and forth on the issue and no sign of the shutdown ending.
Meanwhile, SNAP recipients like Barrett were lost in the chaos. Barrett said they were alerted in late October about November benefits not being funded.
“When the message went out, there was confusion over whether October benefits would still be usable in November,” Barrett said. “I used my October benefits before Nov. 1 and stocked up on foods my children eat.”
Her sons, ages 8 and 10, only have about five “safe foods,” Barrett said. They will eat one specific brand of chicken nuggets, one specific brand of mac and cheese. Of course, things like bread and milk can’t be stocked up on for too long—that’s where the latest plasma donation came in.
The crucial date for SNAP recipients like Barrett was Nov. 17, when the benefits would have typically renewed. If the government reopens, things will likely begin to get back on track. There is also still a ruling expected early this week on whether the USDA will have to fully fund SNAP regardless of whether the government is reopened.
The crisis set off debate about the SNAP program, with anecdotes and myths resurfacing of widespread fraud and misuse. But most of the 750,000 Alabamians and the other SNAP users across the country have stories more akin to Barrett’s.
“People say ‘Get a job; you’re lazy; it’s not our job to feed your kids’—What do I do with my children? I have no family left,” Barrett said. “My sister passing (in 2024) is the last person of the family I was born into. I’ve lost seven relatives over the last few years. So who can step in to watch the kids for me to just go out and get a job? I do side gig work. I donate plasma weekly. I DoorDash. I’m not sitting at home doing nothing; I’m doing as much as I possibly can with my time while they are at school.”
Before becoming a full-time caregiver, Barrett said she has worked hard all her life, starting at 17 years old working two jobs to take care of her mother and disabled sister. She had plans to pursue higher education and even earned a scholarship to a community college, but life got in the way. Before 2020, she had never received food assistance. Then her husband got COVID and ended up on life support for 46 days while they had been in the process of getting a divorce.
He eventually recovered and Barrett discontinued the food assistance until she found herself in her full-time caregiver position for her sons with few options to work. She continues to look for employment opportunities, as required by the program, but said few employers want to hire “a 42-year-old mom that hasn’t worked a tax-cutting job in 10 years with very limited availability.”
And many families are on SNAP for much shorter periods. The average time using SNAP benefits for a family with children is 12 months.
One local business owner who asked to remain anonymous due to the stigma it could cause their business told APR about having to recently get food assistance as her luxury service has lost a lot of traffic in the worsening economy.
The source told APR of multiple times in her life that she had relied on food assistance and then came out of it, ultimately building a successful business that had her financially stable for a decade.
“Then, the economy shifted, and the political climate deteriorated,” she said. “My luxury services and products aren’t a necessity, and when people are struggling to survive, they cut back on anything extra. My income plummeted. For the first time in decades I had to choose between paying rent or keeping the power on. I used to have perfect credit; now I’m behind on almost everything. I lost my health insurance because I couldn’t afford the $450 monthly premium. I had to tell my teenagers that we might lose our house. Applying for SNAP again was humbling—but necessary.
“I’m certainly not lazy. I work hard every single day. I’ve built something meaningful that supports others in my community. But I don’t get the same tax breaks the billionaires do. Programs like SNAP are the only safety net people like me have. Losing them, even temporarily, isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s terrifying. I received SNAP in October for the first time in almost 10 years.”
While it appears for now that SNAP may soon return to standard operations, families like the Barretts brace for the worst as the program faces unprecedented challenges.
