No one should ever have to make the impossible choice between food and health care, between childcare and keeping the lights on, between dignity and survival. Yet it seems this is the false choice being made on the political stage, exacerbating the real choices families are already forced to make every single day.
Today, elected officials face an October 31st deadline before they choose to let Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits—what many know as Food Stamps—run out in addition to connected threats to Head Start, WIC, and other public benefits in this moment, and surely to come. This isn’t about numbers on a budget; it’s about real people being forced to make impossible choices, while those in power debate false ones. Forty-two million people. Sixteen million children. We are a microcosm of that national crisis with more than half of LIFT members across four regions at risk of losing their SNAP benefits overnight. And every family we partner with is already juggling rising costs, immigration raids, budget cuts, and furloughs that threaten the delicate balance of stability they’ve fought to create.
For them, this disruption can undo years of hard-won progress toward financial security. We are bearing witness to how dismantling needed supports is creating generational harm. LIFT families are already sacrificing progress towards long-term economic mobility goals to protect themselves from the coming changes. As one member shared, “I may lose my home, insurance, and benefits for food soon. I was planning on re-enrolling in school…but now I’m feeling too overwhelmed of the unknown to even try.”
When systems fail to care, the wound is collective. And so, too, must be the healing. Here’s how we’re choosing care at LIFT:
- Increased cash support– We’re expanding our direct cash assistance fund to give more to families at risk because choice begins with having enough. We are seeking to raise 323k to give $500 each to our 646 families. You can donate by clicking here.
- Sharing information on specialized resources– We’re connecting members to emergency food assistance and other local supports.
- Working in solidarity– We’re sharing strategies with our Policy and Technical Assistance partners to pool knowledge, amplify voices, leverage resources, and ensure families’ needs are met.
The freeze in benefits is the canary in the coalmine, calling us to choose differently and turn from false choices toward true ones. Targeted programs like SNAP, the Child Tax Credit, Head Start, and Baby Bonds work! They show us what healing looks like when care is public policy. They show that even as families face impossible choices, we still have a choice to act. Here’s how you can show your care:
- Support your local food bank or pantry: Food banks are gearing up for surges in demand; help them meet the coming need.
- Speak up: Call on your elected officials to demand distribution of SNAP’s contigency fund before the October 31st deadline.
- Spread the word: Share what is happening, what’s at stake, and encourage others to act.
LIFT stands with our members — and with families across the country — who deserve dignity, safety, and the freedom to thrive without being forced to make choices no one should ever have to make.
Stand with us,
Michelle Rhone-Collins
LIFT-CEO