'Whenever it ends, it's not going to be good:' Pending rollback to pandemic food benefits creates worry

Dan Henderson went from receiving $20 a month in food benefits to around $200. At first, he thought it was a mistake. "I didn't even know it was coming until it showed up," he said. "I pretty much don't trust those guys when they tell you stuff is coming. … Money in hand always goes a lot further than conversations without … I checked into it and found out OK, this is real, it's a program they started because of the pandemic, so when it ends, it ends." But once confirmed he wouldn't be on the hook for a mix-up by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the 63-year-old Amherst resident was able to use the additional $180 a month to stock up on items — instead of buying week-to-week, he could purchase more at once, and it saved him from having to supplement his $20 benefits with his Social Security checks. Congress boosted food benefits in 2020 as part of a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing the increased payments through 2021 and into 2022. But now, amid skyrocketing food prices and inflation, those expansions could end once the federal public health emergency does — leaving senior citizens especially vulnerable. Due to income guidelines, some seniors — like Henderson — only receive $18 to $20 a month in Electronic Benefit Transfer, or EBT, payments. EBT is the electronic system used by Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, participants. Second Harvest Food Bank's president and CEO, Julie Chase-Morefield, said the food bank has seen a significant increase in the number of seniors using its food pantries, even with the Pandemic-EBT program expanding benefits. But with the end of the public health emergency on the horizon this fall, the food bank is expecting another jump in need. "One of the things we worry about is the seniors who have been getting this $216 a month, they've been used to having it and with food prices significantly higher, not only is it back to $16 a month, $16 a month means less than what it did two years ago," she said. "That's one of the big concerns we have, especially when you look at the number of seniors we're serving, it's almost 20 percent of who we serve, so you can easily see that can potentially balloon." Data from the Northeast Ohio food bank shows a steady increase in senior citizens in Crawford, Erie, Huron and Lorain counties from 2019 through the first half of 2022. In 2019, 13 percent of Second Harvest's clients were seniors. That jumped to 20 percent for the first half of 2022, and Chase-Morefield expects it to rise again once the public health emergency ends. Originally the public health emergency — which kept the increased P-EBT payments going — was set to end July 15, Chase-Morefield said. Now, it looks like it will end in mid-October, hitting at an already tough time for many people Second Harvest serves. "Whenever it ends, it's not going to be good," she said. "October, November and December are always our largest distribution months. … There's a lot of challenges around that time of year, so you always see higher needs. So having the public health emergency end anytime is going to be challenging, but especially going into that fall season (will be tough)." Local food safety nets Before the pandemic, Andrew Shullick, 60, of Lorain, received about $53 a month in food benefits but had heard of others in his building getting just $16 to $18 every month. Now, he receives more than double his original amount and, like Henderson, has tried to stock up while the expansion lasts, being able to buy perishables like meat. But if the expansion rolls back, he won't be able to get those extra items. "I think I'm one of the lucky ones, but the extra money comes in, I can get extra food and everything that I need," he said. "I try to stock up, so once a month I'll get all my canned goods and stuff like that … then I go for my perishables — cereals, milk, bread, meats and stuff. But if they roll it back, sometimes I won't be able to get the perishables." Shullick receives Social Security every month and relies on his brother to drive him to the store. He's been able to share some of the extra food he's gotten with his brother in return for the rides. Without the extra funds, Henderson will use more of his retirement checks to supplement the $20 a month in regular EBT funds he receives and maybe look into some food boxes. "With it, I wasn't concerned about the food boxes — I know I would qualify because of my income, but I hadn't looked into it because it was there. I don't need both. … And if it can be used elsewhere, it should be." Second Harvest operates federally subsidized senior food boxes with shelf-stable goods, many delivered door-to-door every month by partner agencies, and through a new partnership with DoorDash. Piloted in May, ProjectDASH delivers the federally funded senior boxes of shelf-stable items and cheese, supplemented often with frozen meat and a produce item by Second Harvest, within a 10-mile radius of the nonprofit's Baumhart Road facility. Its volunteers pack about 1,600 boxes a month, but Second Harvest is hoping to get that number closer to 1,800. "We don't want anybody to think 'Oh it's for somebody else, I'm good,'" she said. "A senior who is income-eligible … if it could help you in some other area of your budget. "We're happy to be able to do that because we have the capacity in that program, and there's capacity across the state." For more information on how to sign up for the senior food box program, call Second Harvest at (440) 960-2265 or go to bit.ly/3RE8yeS. Increase in demand Oberlin Community Services has long partnered with Second Harvest to deliver those food boxes to residents in Oberlin, Wellington, Brighton, Camden, Carlisle, Huntington, LaGrange, New Russia, Penfield, Pittsfield and Rochester, and provide other food assistance to low-income residents. Food Programs Coordinator Liv Hanson said she's seen more people coming in for the nonprofit's food programs, including its delivery programs. She said the pandemic has been a mixed bag for the smaller nonprofit. It has seen a 5 percent to 10 percent jump in seniors coming in for its regular food programs, but its senior food box program through Second Harvest is lower. "But I think that can be chalked up a little bit to the kinds of food that are in the boxes are not always super helpful to people depending on what their diets are," she said. She added later, "We also know the extra EBT funds have been a really big lifeline for people who would be in a much worse position if they didn't have those … it's been a really huge jump for some folks, so every once in a while we'll have people jump off the delivery list because 'I just don't need it because of what I'm getting right now' and then if it ends, we're going to see a lot of those people hopping back on." Oberlin Community Services gives out about 80 boxes overall, about half of those Second Harvest-partnered senior boxes, in addition to individuals and families who come to its biweekly drive-up distributions, indoor choice pantry and pop-up produce pantries. She said a lot more people are asking for deliveries — a trend that expanded during the pandemic because many seniors were anxious to leave their homes, and they frequently hear clients are living check-to-check on Social Security. "And I know benefits, whatever those might be … are a really huge safety net for people," she said. "So it says a lot that people are relying on both of those things — both us and these federal or state benefits to make ends meet. So when you take one of those away, that's going to make a really big difference to whether people can have enough food to eat or pay their rent or their utilities or things like that." Living, planning in limbo The unknown is what's stressful, not just for Hanson's clients, but also for her own scheduling. She can't call in extra volunteer drivers for an anticipated need in deliveries, and like other food pantries, Oberlin Community Services is having trouble sourcing food. "When benefits like (Pandemic-EBT) end, we can't feed folks if we don't have the food to do it," she said. "So that's something we're thinking a lot about. If you're a person in the community who might not be taking advantage of our services, something you can do, in addition to volunteering or donating, is looking into those bigger policy goals and … showing support to the government — signing letters, things like that saying 'I support my local food bank because I support the work that they're doing' makes a really huge difference to us being able to fill in these gaps." All Feeding America food banks have requested an additional $50 million from the federal government, partially in anticipation of an increased need as the P-EBT program ends, Chase-Morefield said, but also to help offset food costs for food banks across the country. Donations are down and food costs are up, meaning there's less food in Second Harvest's warehouse — and food orders to stock those shelves take longer to get in, she said. "The sooner we get funding, the sooner we'll be able to have orders in place so that we know there's food coming in so we're prepared for that when it happens," she said. Without the additional EBT funds, Henderson will make it work, he said, but expects the rollback will hurt others. "I'll just have to make it," he said. "But I don't want my opinions about it to hurt someone else who may be counting on it more than me. Because I'm just a single guy — we can usually get by on a lot less than a family, right?" Not knowing when the extra benefits will ultimately end is what worries Shullick. He's been going to Fligner's and Polansky's meat markets, but he won't be able to shop there if the rollback happens. And like Henderson, he's thinking of those who need the benefits more than him. And the $53 a month he received previously won't stretch as far with higher food prices. "I just kind of hope it doesn't end, because people out there really need it — this extra fund coming in," he said. "Because everything's been going up high and how do they expect some of these more elderly people to survive if they cut everything?" Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.