As Northwest Florida begins to recover from the recent federal government shutdown, United Way of West Florida has stepped up to address a growing crisis facing local families struggling with delayed SNAP benefits and missed paychecks.
Laura Gilliam, president and CEO of United Way of West Florida, announced the Emergency Relief Fund this week to support nonprofits serving households in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties who are still reeling from the shutdown’s impact. Read United Way of West Florida Emergency Relief Fund.
- “The people in need right now are our neighbors – people who work hard, care for their families, and face uncertainty through no fault of their own,” Gilliam said. “The Emergency Relief Fund will support nonprofits and agencies that are assisting people in need.”
A Unique Crisis
What makes this crisis particularly concerning is who’s asking for help.
- “We’re seeing families, households that have not struggled in the past struggling,” Gilliam explained. “I’ve talked with our colleagues at the pantries and other organizations that are seeing households that they’ve never seen before, and a lot of times these are also folks who don’t know where to turn for help because they’ve never had to.”
Many of these families fall into what’s known as the ALICE population – Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed families who work but live paycheck to paycheck. In Florida, households earning up to $64,300 for a family of four can qualify for SNAP benefits.
“That group has not improved in the last 10 years,” Gilliam noted, “and so that’s telling us something about where wages are, the cost of goods.”
The situation is particularly challenging because even though the shutdown has officially ended, the recovery isn’t immediate. Families may have to reapply for benefits, creating additional delays.
- “So many of these folks, if they had savings, have run through it,” Gilliam said. “It’s not like flipping a light switch and everything kind of going back to normal to the way it was before.”
Adding to the pressure: the holiday season.
- “You add that to the fact that there was this delay in this temporary loss, it just feels like things are just compounding one on top of the other,” Gilliam said, “making it really tough.”
The fund will provide grants to local nonprofits serving families with food, utilities, and housing assistance. United Way has experience managing similar relief funds, having operated two in 2020 for COVID-19 and Hurricane Sally.
Community members can donate at www.uwwf.org/relief or mail contributions to United Way of West Florida, Emergency Relief Fund, 7100 Plantation Road, Suite 18, Pensacola, FL 32504.
