As the government shutdown continues, many students and people around the North Philadelphia community are left wondering what their game plan is if they are missing or were to miss their food stamps.
Ella Mckay says, “I am primarily financially independent here on my own.” Ella is a senior and works on top of her class schedule. She missed her SNAP benefits on November 1st. Now she’s having to cut costs to afford to eat.
At City Hall, Mayor Cherelle Parker’s “One Philly SNAP Support Plan” launched this weekend to help people who are now missing benefits. It’s dividing a total of $14 million to food aid, rent and utility relief, plus small business and federal worker support. Parker says “Access to SNAP benefits has been an invaluable tool in our fight against food insecurity.”
Even with the funds from the city and state, Executive Director of Philadelphia’s Share Food Program, George Matysik, is already seeing the effects. Matysik says, “When we talk to our food pantries we’re hearing numbers as much as 12-fold increase in terms of new registrations,” now with the rise in demand, Matysik does say the program feels the support from Parker’s plan, “…4 million dollars just for the food banks and about a million of that is going to the Share Food Program for us to purchase food.”
Here on campus, Dr. Gabriella McLoughlin directs Temple’s research focused on equity known as the “RISE” Lab. She says, “We’re in this for a while… only partial funding is coming this month.” She also says, “If these benefits weren’t in place I think a lot of students would fall through the cracks.” Dr. McLoughlin went on to discuss that food and financial insecurity could lead to a drop in enrollment and retention issues for the university.
LINKS TO LOCAL FOOD DISTRIBUTION CENTERS AND RESOURCES:
SNAP Benefits: What You Need to Know
Temple University’s Barnett Irvine Cherry Pantry
Temple University’s Fall 2025 Swipe Out Hunger Program Application
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