A woman describes healthy food choices to a family in this file photo.
By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
Safa, an immigrant from Sudan living in Iowa City to seek a better life for her family, is grateful that her two children are among 266,000 people in Iowa enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). They have just begun receiving the monthly benefits through SNAP, a national program that aims to increase food security and reduce hunger. This year commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Food Stamp Act, which established the program now known as SNAP.
“SNAP continues to be the best tool we have to address hunger and food insecurity in Iowa,” said Luke Elzinga, board chair of the Iowa Hunger Coalition. “Supporting the nutrition of our neighbors through SNAP is not only critical to their health and well-being it is an investment in the future of our state.”
Kelly Garcia, director of the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, says SNAP has helped “countless Iowa families supplement their food budgets and work towards self-sufficiency over the years. Through the SNAP program, we have partnered closely with Iowa food retailers to ensure easy access to nutritious food. Iowa HHS is committed to the overall wellness and health of Iowa families and providing them with resources and support to thrive,” Garcia said in an e-news release of the Iowa Hunger Coalition.
Safa feels a sense of hope now that her 15-year-old son and 8-year-old daughter receive SNAP benefits, she said, speaking through an interpreter, Mazahir Salih, executive director of Iowa Welcome Network of Johnson County (IWNJC). Safa can purchase food from international grocers in Iowa City, including halal meat, which adheres to Islamic dietary laws she follows.
She did not have that choice when she depended on the food bank for help to feed her family and was unfamiliar with the food that Americans eat. “We didn’t know how to eat it,” Safa said. Imagine “eating the food you like, the food you grew up eating,” Salih said. “Having that opportunity is amazing.”
SNAP is “a way of making sure you’re not hungry,” says Chris Dunn, an outreach navigator with Humility Homes and Services, based in Davenport. He builds relationships with individuals living outside to get a better understanding of their particular barriers to housing. Assisting them with applying or requalifying for SNAP is among the many things he does for people with few if any resources to sustain themselves. Often, the individuals needing to requalify have lost their benefits due to lack of forwarding address or a lost/stolen SNAP card.
“People are pretty grateful,” Dunn said. “I call it the social worker effect, having someone advocate for you to help navigate systems that can be complicated and opaque.” Recently, he came across a couple sleeping in their car, which has since broken down. They live in a hotel to be within walking distance from the female partner’s work site but that has drained the couple’s financial resources. Dunn plans to ask if they might qualify for SNAP.
“SNAP is an extremely beneficial program to help feed Iowans seeking food. We encourage Iowans experiencing hunger to apply for SNAP as every dollar helps to provide food on the table,” Linda Gorkow, executive director of the Iowa Food Bank Association (IFBA), told The Catholic Messenger.
She said that the six major food banks serving Iowa “work with more than 1,000 community partners/pantries/schools and feeding programs to distribute food to all 99 counties across Iowa. Most of them do not require people seeking food to note whether they receive SNAP. “We have seen a record number of Iowans seeking food and many are working Iowans unable to make ends meet — including those who may not be eligible for SNAP.”
Inflation and the cost of living have impacted many Iowans, Gorkow said. “Food banks and our partners have served a record number of Iowans in the past year. Every household situation is unique; however, we know the need for food is high.”
“It is important for all who wonder if they could receive SNAP benefits to actually apply for SNAP — it is the only way to find out if they are eligible for program benefits. Iowa Health and Human Services administers SNAP and reviews applications for eligibility.” Iowans who receive SNAP benefits may also visit a food pantry or distribution site to receive what is available and then use their SNAP dollars to purchase items not available at the food pantry or distribution site, she said.
Some SNAP recipients may be doing just that in Burlington at the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry. The food pantry receives food from the USDA, which requires statistics on the number of SNAP recipients who receive food there, said Lawrence DuCharme, the food pantry’s president. In Fiscal Year 2023, 10.4% of families (230 out of 2,231 served) and 10.8% of individuals (802 out of 7,423 served) identified as SNAP recipients. To date in FY 2024, 10% of families (189 out of 1,885 served) and 12.1 percent of individuals (807 out of 6,676 served) reported receiving SNAP, DuCharme said.
The Iowa Food Bank Association provides SNAP Outreach to educate and assist Iowans about applying for the program and offers a SNAP Outreach Hotline (855) 944.FOOD (3663) for application assistance. The hotline is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
One major concern regarding SNAP looms in Iowa. A law enacted in 2023 but not implemented yet, SF 494, could adversely affect some current SNAP recipients and prevent others from applying. The law aims to save costs by raising assets limits, improve efficiency, eliminate fraud (which was already low, the Iowa Hunger Coalition says) and reduce errors, which the state did prior to the law. The Iowa Hunger Coalition and Iowa Catholic Conference (ICC) are part of a workgroup that will monitor the new law’s implementation.
“The ICC works to protect programs like SNAP not because we love the fact that people are on food stamps but because some people need the program to avoid hunger,” said ICC Executive Director Tom Chapman. “As the bishops have said, food is a basic requirement of the common good as it sustains life itself. Our Catholic Charities programs and those of other nonprofit organizations cannot make up the difference in federal aid.”
“Our main concern about SF 494 has been that people will have their benefits unjustly canceled due to discrepancies identified during the income verification processes. When an issue is identified during the income verification process, applicants only have 10 days to resolve the situation.” Chapman added, “We’re happy to serve on the SF 494 workgroup and appreciate the collaboration with the state’s Health and Human Services department to help implement the law in the best way possible.”
