Shutdown’s lingering effects burden families

The promise of a new beginning and a celebratory Thanksgiving meal has been overshadowed by lingering financial insecurity for families like Shelby Williams, whose meticulously planned budget was thrown into disarray by the recent government shutdown.

- Adam Geller, The Independent

Williams, a mother of two from Reeds Spring, Missouri, had carefully calculated every dollar, balancing an impending insurance payment against her hard-earned wages and government SNAP assistance. After more than two years living with her parents, she was finally set to move into her own apartment, envisioning a Thanksgiving feast prepared by her children, joined by their grandparents.

However, the funds earmarked for groceries vanished when the federal government ceased operations on October |. While Washington has since resumed normal function, the relief felt by families in Williams’ community and countless others recovering from the 43-day suspension of government wages and food aid is now tempered by persistent stress and economic uncertainty, casting a shadow over the upcoming holiday season. “I'm thankful for my children and my job, and I'm thankful for SNAP because it supplies food,” said Williams, 32, who works as a paraprofessional in an elementary school. “But ... with the way the world is, with the financial strain, it is hard to be thankful.”

The anxiety stirred by the shutdown persists in the lines at food pantries in this southwestern Missouri county and echoes through households nationwide. Dealing with the shutdown’s fallout in South Florida, Darlene Castillo is still struggling to prop up her family’s fragile finances after working without pay for seven weeks at the US Customs Service. To get by, she lined up at a mobile food bank, a first for her. She held off paying bills and canceled subscriptions. Family members sent money, and when one extended an invitation for Thanksgiving, she and her husband gratefully accepted, knowing that they'd be hard-pressed to host the holiday meal.