NAPLES, Fla. — Big changes are coming to a federal program that affects 42 million people. SNAP, a program that helps families put food on the table, will get more money.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program gives a monthly allowance to qualified low-income families in order to buy certain groceries.
The budget is going up by about $36 per person under a new budget. The increase is the single largest in the program history, and above pre-pandemic levels.
"They need the support, they need the services," said Lorna McLan, Director of Community Impact at St. Matthew's House. "We just know that it's getting harder and more difficult for a lot of families."
She says distributions have seen record-breaking numbers, telling Fox 4 as prices are going up, minimum wage is not increasing.
Though money for SNAP is increasing, it will be somewhat harder for families to qualify as more need to prove they are working, training or in school.
The program already requires single people between 18 and 52 years old to do this. With the change, the age increases to 54.
"I think the only effect that we would see is more families attending our distribution," McLan says.
She says some of the smaller distributions are seeing about 600 families, whether the people are regulars or new.
From June 2022 to August 2023, they fed more than 41,000 families and reached 120,000 so far this year.
"Our numbers at the end of the day just keep going up," she said.
The changes to the SNAP benefits take effect October 1.
