Don't forget the seniors as SNAP benefits are cut

OVER THE WEEKEND, the federal government temporarily shut off funding for its Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, leaving more than 42 million Americans uncertain about how they'll be able to feed their families in the coming weeks. For many older Californians like me, that cutoff isn’t a mere inconvenience. It’s a gut-punch.

- CANDICE REED GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

I'm now 67 years old, a widow living in Section 8 affordable housing in the Hillcrest area of San Diego. To qualify for my building, residents must be at least 62 years of age and earn less than $58,000 a year — roughly 50% of the area’s median income. Yet my rent still takes about 30% of my income, the standard limit for "affordable" housing. It’s a catch-22 many seniors know well: If we earn too much, we lose assistance; earn too little and we can’t cover basic expenses.

I work part-time as a writer, which gives me purpose and helps me stay active. But even with that income and my monthly Social Security, it’s a struggle. For the past two years, my $194 monthly SNAP benefits have bridged that gap. Without them, I'm not sure how I'll manage.

Nearly six million Californians are 65 or older as of the last census - about 15% of the state’s population. Recent data show that roughly 9% of older adults in California face food insecurity, meaning as many as half a million seniors statewide struggle to reliably access three nutritious meals a day. In San Diego County alone, more than 182,000 older adults experience food insecurity, and almost 100,000 seniors here receive SNAP or CalFresh benefits. These are not extravagant stipends; the average senior household gets about $188 a month, but those modest funds often mean the difference between skipping a meal and buying a bag of groceries.