ANF: ‘I’m scared’: Georgia seniors fear loss of SNAP food assistance due to Jon Ossoff’s Shutdown
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‘I’m scared’: Georgia seniors fear loss of SNAP food assistance
Doug Reardon
Atlanta News First, Atlanta
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The government shutdown will cause the SNAP program to run out of funding on Nov. 1, meaning no new payments will be issued next month to the over 1 million Georgians who utilize the benefits.
Of those, according to data from Georgia’s Department of Human Services, 28% of beneficiaries are seniors or someone living with a disability.
Suzie Moore, a retired nurse in Lawrenceville, is both. She’s on an extremely fixed income and only gets $23 a month through SNAP. That can often times represent her entire grocery budget.
“That’s not much at all,” Moore said. “I have to really plan what I’m going to buy with that money to extend it enough so I’m not dipping into my fixed income that pays the other bills, like the apartment.”
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So for now, Moore is saving what she can and looking for resources like food giveaways and food shelters in the increasingly likely event that the government is still shuttered next month.
“It’s scary, it really is, for someone my age, and I have disabilities and everything,” said Moore. “I’m scared, you know. I really am, because I don’t know how long this will last.”
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“If this was your family, what would you do?” she said. “Think about the people you’re hurting, the people that are out there that are going to suffer.”
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