VOICE FOR EVERYONE | Share your voice with KSHB 41’s JuYeon Kim
Time is running out for members of Congress to come to an agreement and pass spending bills. Lawmakers are just five days away from a government shutdown that could impact millions of Americans.
One concern is the impact on families who rely on government assistance programs.
“We are awaiting almost a perfect storm,” said Joanna Sebelien, chief resource officer of Harvesters. “I don’t think it’s going to be an immediate increase in people coming to the panties, but over a period of time, it’s going to be massive.”
Sebelien said demand has not dropped at the food network since spiking 41% during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We can probably go through October," Sebelien said. "If it goes much longer, we’re going to have to put out a call for donated food or dollars to be able to bring food in."
Harvesters is already working on setting up expanded food distributions that target federal employees or government contractors.
“The federal government is the largest employer in the metro area — more than 38,000 people could be affected,” Sebelien said. “We’re looking at beefing up mobiles if we have to get it to where people are that may never have had to use a pantry before.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports anyone in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will receive benefits through October, but beyond that, nothing is guaranteed.
And for mothers and babies who rely on WIC, funding will run out within a matter of days if a shutdown ensues. Karl Ploeger, with City Union Mission, said his organization may end up serving many of those mothers and babies at their facilities.
City Union Mission already assists up to 75 families each week.
“We’re looking at how do we staff and make sure we have additional Mission employees there to try and help check people in and take care of it," Sebelien said. "We’ll reach out to some of our food vendors and sources to try and increase [to] make sure our pantries are as full as possible."
Staff also expect higher demand at their shelters if HUD funding runs out, which could lead to evictions.
While City Union Mission does not receive direct funding from the government, Ploeger said he's certain the shelter will see secondary effects.
“It wouldn’t affect us directly, in terms of us not receiving funds from the government, but certainly if it affects our donors, federal employees, which we have a lot of as donors," Ploeger said. "If they’re not getting their paychecks, it could affect the donations that are coming into City Union Mission.
"Really, right now, we can use your help because [of] that increase in demand, and right now, we have an economy that is not as strong as we like it to be — that affects our donations."
KSHB 41 also reached out to Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph to learn how their staff anticipates tackling potential challenges.
“A shutdown will certainly have an impact on the vulnerable families that are served by our Veterans Administration, Housing and Urban Development and other government programs,” Executive Director Susan Walker shared in an email. “We have a contingency plan in place that we follow any time there is a threat of interruptions in government payments on grants so we can assure that services will continue for our families while Congress works to come to [an] agreement on a budget.”
That being said, Walker said Catholic Charities cannot sustain services for months during a government shutdown since it will eventually require dipping into reserves, reallocating resources or making other accommodations, impacting all other programming.
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