With the government shutdown dragging on, officials say funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)— known CalFresh in California— is at risk of running out.
To assess the shutdown's impact on food insecurity on the Central Coast, California District 24 Congressman Salud Carbajal visited Meals That Connect in San Luis Obispo on Tuesday afternoon.
Meals That Connect is a local senior nutrition program that reportedly provides free meals to over 2,000 seniors in San Luis Obispo County.
Laura Kelsay, the program's executive director, talked with KSBY about the concerns she brought up to Congressman Carbajal.
"If the shutdown continues for an extended period of time, programs like ours could end up going away. That's the real truth of it," Kelsay said. "I don't know what would happen after that for a lot of these folks. We are literally sometimes the only thing keeping them out of a nursing home, is knowing that they can get food delivered to their door."
Congressman Carbajal says he is taking action to help local programs like Meals That Connect by assessing their needs and standing in solidarity with federal workers.
"I personally have deferred my pay to be in solidarity with our workforce because they're not getting paid. Members of Congress should not get paid. And you know, what's interesting is that Congress continues to get their paychecks,” Carbajal said.
According to the representative's office, more than 100,000 people on the Central Coast who use CalFresh would be impacted if the government shutdown continues.
