Food security for thousands of Mecklenburg county residents is on the line as debates over funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program rage on in Washington.
The fate of the program is tied up in ongoing legal and legislative battles. On Oct. 24, the Trump administration said it would not continue to fund SNAP, which provides food aid to 42 million Americans, through the government shutdown. On Nov. 1, a federal judge directed the USDA to use emergency funds to pay for food aid in November following an Oct. 27 lawsuit from a 25-state Democratic coalition which argued cutting SNAP is illegal. The White House said it plans to pay partial benefits, despite President Trump’s Truth Social post threatening to withhold funding just hours earlier. However, a USDA official said providing reduced benefits will take weeks to months.
Amidst this uncertainty are approximately 138,500 residents in Mecklenburg county who receive SNAP benefits. The county committed $740,000 to support residents, but that comes nowhere near the $24 million per month in benefits that normally come in from the program.
With the ongoing government shutdown, in addition to ongoing cuts to federal funding since Trump took office, local organizations say they saw the threat to SNAP coming. They are bracing for higher demand and increased need. Heidi Acker is the director of healthy initiatives and the food pantry at the Ada Jenkins Center in Davidson.
“We’re just wrapping up our numbers for October, but our first glance is that we served 830 people in the month of October,” Acker said. “That doesn’t equate to a number of families. I haven’t figured that piece out yet. We’ve never been over 700 before.”
That number includes families across the Charlotte area, and Acker said about 15-20 families in Davidson. With SNAP’s instability hanging over the community, Acker expects numbers to continue rising.
“We’re watching it and tracking it over the next week,” Acker said. “Normally, our food pantry is open on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Next week it will also be open on Saturday.”
60 people, or around 20-25 households can visit the food pantry each day. In addition to donations, 60%-70% of the food comes from Nourish Up, a Charlotte-area organization that supports a network of over 40 food pantries. At this point in time, Acker said, they are not concerned about running out of food.
“Not yet,” Acker said. “The donations help.”
Just down the street at Davidson Presbyterian Church, Pastor Ryan Atkinson helps run Bread of Life Ministries, a food assistance program for congregants and the wider community. They source food from local grocery stores that would otherwise be thrown out and deliver boxes of food to homes. On Sunday after services, the Church opens its doors for people to take whatever is left over.
“We do it for anyone that expresses a need, whether they are housed or unhoused,” Atkinson said. “If you can come and get it, great. If not, we’ll meet you somewhere and we’ll give it to you.”
Bread of Life primarily supports families in Davidson, Cornelius and Huntersville. Over the past few months, watching the instability of federal funds and sensing that cuts to SNAP were coming, Atkinson doubled down on his efforts to empower his congregation and protect those in the community who do receive SNAP benefits from the shock of the shutdown. He talked about it in his sermons, held educational sessions and trainings on how to reach out to representatives.
For as hard as he has worked, Atkinson said from his position as a leader of a majority Black congregation, he saw this coming.
“To be frank, the writing’s been on the wall for a number of years,” Atkinson said. “It’s something that the Black community and the Black church anticipates.”
Although white people make up the largest share of SNAP recipients at 34.7%, Black Americans are overrepresented in the program. They comprise 26.1% of recipients despite making up only about 12% of the U.S. population. White people make up around 60% of the U.S. population.
Atkinson said he has heard fear from his congregants about how they will make it through the next few months. When he has not heard fear, he has seen it.
“Their body language does something,” Atkinson said. “It gives the truth of where they are. There’s the worry, there’s the angst, there’s a fear. ‘Do I get my medicine or do I get food?’”
Mecklenburg County’s $740,000 in support is something, but Atkinson thinks it reveals deeper issues with the county’s priorities.
“You can have a stadium downtown, have a concert venue, have all the transportation,” Atkinson said. “But if there are people still going hungry, if there are people that are still struggling and still trying to decide, ‘do I go and buy medicine, or do I put food on the table so my child can eat? Do I get asthma medication and or do I make sure my child can have at least something to eat, not necessarily nutritious, but something to eat?’ I think you have a huge problem.”
Atkinson and Acker see a role for the College during this time of need. The Student Government Association hosted an emergency food drive for Ada Jenkins from Oct. 30–Nov. 4. They also facilitated some monetary donations.
“We consider ourselves close partners, and through our education programs and everything else we do here,” Ackers said. “Rght now for us, we’re letting people know that donations are the best way to support us.”
Bread of Life is also open for donations. However, Atkinson also advocated for a more systemic approach.
“I think with the institution and its drive, the sky’s the limit,” Atkinson said. “[…] What can we do from a root level to start addressing this within Davidson town proper?”
In the meantime, Atkinson is buckling down to help his community weather a blow that feels all too familiar.
“With some of the more seasoned members who have seen a lot, it’s kind of like well, rinse, wash and repeat,” Atkinson said. “We’re going to do the same thing we’ve always done; that is pray, seek the goodness of God and band together to do what we’ve always done and help each other.”
