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Millions of Americans have less money this month to pay for groceries and heating bills with the federal government shutdown and assistance programs paused. North Country Public Radio's Emily Russell reports on how people in Northern New York are coping.
EMILY RUSSELL, BYLINE: Packages of food are piled up on buffet tables inside the Adult Center in Saranac Lake, New York. There are loaves of bread, gallons of milk, packages of meat.
MAUREN MACDOWELL: You can take two sandwich meats...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: OK.
MACDOWELL: ...Or you can take a sandwich meat and a cheese.
RUSSELL: Mauren MacDowell guides a few young women through the food line, listing off additional items they can bring home.
MACDOWELL: A produce, two breads and a sweet.
RUSSELL: For two hours a week, this place opens its doors to anyone in need. MacDowell volunteers alongside Avana Forsyth. Even before the shutdown, when people were getting regular benefits from SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program, Forsyth says the food here was and is really needed.
AVANA FORSYTH: Even if they get SNAP, lot of times, they don't have enough food for their families to get through. So this is an extra place that they can go to to help them out.
RUSSELL: With SNAP benefits in limbo, Forsyth says there's been a 10% increase in the number of people here each week. Pat Vaughn stopped by to see if there's any food she might want. Vaughn isn't enrolled in SNAP and thinks people should be less reliant on food stamps.
PAT VAUGHN: I conserve, and I save, and I can. I home can. I do all kinds of stuff. I don't wait for handout. I mean, I'm here looking to see what's there, you know? But I normally just do my own thing.
RUSSELL: In his second term, President Trump has pushed to cut social safety net programs like SNAP and Medicaid. About a third of people in this part of Northern New York are enrolled in that healthcare program. Meanwhile, a majority of people here voted for Trump, including Vaughn, who supports the president's efforts to shrink federal subsidies.
VAUGHN: The government wasn't supposed to be here to take over and live your life for you. They're just a drop back if you need something and it's supposed to be short term.
RUSSELL: But for some people here, certain federal subsidies play a key role in their lives. Florence Wright and her husband live in Colton, another tiny town in Northern New York. They usually get money to help pay their heating bills through HEAP, the Home Energy Assistance Program. But the Trump administration is withholding that money during the shutdown. Wright isn't sure how they'll cover the cost.
FLORENCE WRIGHT: I mean, we burn fuel oil. What are we going to do if the heat don't go through?
RUSSELL: Yeah.
WRIGHT: One tank of fuel is half of our income a month.
RUSSELL: About 6 million households around the country received HEAP benefits last year. The program was supposed to start accepting New York applicants earlier this week, but it's now on pause because of the shutdown. James Burton from Saranac Lake is worried about how that will impact the tens of thousands of households in this region on HEAP.
JAMES BURTON: It's starting to get cold. We are in the north country, and they're going to suffer.
RUSSELL: Burton is sipping coffee outside a local gas station in the village. He believes President Trump's priorities are misguided, particularly his plan to renovate the White House while so many Americans are struggling to make ends meet.
BURTON: If they stop building the ballroom and put that money into the community, especially communities like this, we would be OK.
RUSSELL: Many communities across Northern New York and around the country have been stepping up to help low-income residents, but there's just no matching the billions of dollars that the federal government pays out through SNAP and other programs each month. For NPR News, I'm Emily Russell in Saranac Lake, New York.
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