Food banks and nonprofits across Miami-Dade are bracing for a sharp rise in demand as confusion and fear spread over sudden cuts to federal nutrition aid. The Trump administration announced Monday that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or food stamp recipients will receive only half of their usual monthly benefits due to the ongoing government shutdown. Organizations from North Miami-Dade to Florida City say they are already seeing longer lines, more calls, and seniors arriving before dawn.
“For all of our families, food stamps or SNAP benefits are a lifeline,” said Gepsie Metellus, executive director of Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center. “It makes a difference in terms of putting food on the table for the families. It is about food security. It’s about good health. It’s about peace of mind.”
Sant La helps an estimated 1,400 families each year navigate SNAP, and more than half will be affected.
Uncertainty and the impact on Miami-Dade
As the shutdown entered its fifth week, two federal judges on Friday directed the Trump administration to use emergency funds to continue making SNAP payments, despite the government’s previous threat to freeze benefits altogether beginning Nov. 1.
On Monday, the White House said it only had enough for reduced assistance and warned of delays in loading the benefits that support 42 million people. The contingency fund has $4.65 billion available, far short of the roughly $9 billion needed for this month’s payments.
Further confusion arose on Tuesday when President Donald Trump signaled on Truth Social that he would withhold SNAP benefits until “Radical Left Democrats open up government,” but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later walked back those comments, confirming that the administration will follow through on partial payments.
A court hearing is scheduled before U.S. District Judge John McConnellon on Thursday to consider a fresh request for an order requiring the Trump administration to provide Americans with full benefits for November.
About one in eight U.S. residents receives SNAP, and nearly 39% are under 18. In Miami-Dade, nearly one in four households relies on the program, twice the national average. The county also has the nation’s highest share of SNAP households with at least one resident over 60, according to a Miami Herald analysis.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava called Trump’s social media remarks “cruel and reckless.”
“Instead of using hunger as a political weapon, we should be fighting to make sure every family in this country has enough to eat,” she wrote on X.
On-the-ground demand
At Curley’s House Hope Relief Food Bank in Liberty City, Executive Director Lavern Spicer said she is preparing for a surge of new clients. The nonprofit already serves more than 5,000 families a month.
“We give these people what it is that they eat. That’s why we allow them to choose. We feed them with dignity. We feed them with respect because we want to instill that back into their life,” Spicer said.
Curley’s House buys fresh food with donations from partners like Feeding South Florida, which Spicer called “a tremendous help.”
She says people start lining up as early as 4 a.m. A color-ticket system prioritizes elders and people using wheelchairs and walkers.
“They are already hungry. They are already starving,” Spicer said. “We get calls all the time from seniors that the only thing they have in their refrigerator is a bright light bulb.”
Even with full benefits, she added, many cannot survive on federal aid alone.
“They get like $10 to $100 in food stamps. Their checks are very small. Some of them don't get any type of income.”
On a recent morning, 77-year-old Charles Pierre waited for distribution to begin. He has relied on food stamps for years.
“I always receive my benefits,” he said, noting that his monthly allotment recently rose by $10. Still, he doesn’t know “next month how it’s gonna be.”
With roughly $176 in assistance, Pierre said Curley’s House fills a crucial gap.
Pamela Johnson, who has been a client for nearly two decades and often volunteers, receives just $23 a month in benefits. She worries about families with children.
“If you work hard in a country and now you gotta worry you're gonna be able to eat, that’s not the way to be,” she said. “But God is gonna supply and take care of me.”
South Dade’s grassroots
Romania Dukes, founder of Mothers Fighting for Justice, is also preparing for more calls — and more hard choices. She said “mostly 100%” of her community, including herself, relies on food stamps, yet “it still is not enough.”
“Some people wait all the way to the end of the month before they even receive their benefits. So at the first beginning of the month, there's no food in the household,” she said.
With SNAP cuts, inflation and increased demand, Dukes said families are returning to strategies used by earlier generations. Remembering neighborhood butcher shops that floated families until they had the money, she devised a meat-share plan with a local store and friends to serve up to 100 people. With donor support, including from The Miami Foundation, she’ll cover packages with nine pounds of meat for families.
Dukes is also bracing for a leaner Thanksgiving giveaway due to shrinking resources.
“This year, I'm only serving 100 seniors,” she said. “And I picked seniors because of the government shutdown.”
In past years, her drive fed more than 200 families from West Perrine to Leisure City.
Instability: The new normal
Even with new strategies, government uncertainty is destabilizing nonprofit budgets and operations.
“It’s a very scary situation,” said Spicer. “It’s going to affect all of the programs. It’s going to affect our funding, and we are already on a shoestring budget.”
She warned of a broader fallout.
“We’re keeping people out of these grocery stores. They know they don’t have to go and steal because they can come right here and get food.”
Miriam Singer, JCS Executive Director.(JCS South Florida)
Jewish Community Services of South Florida (JCS) has mobilized with United Way, Farm Share and Feeding South Florida, ramping up distributions and 211 Miami referrals. JCS Executive Director Miriam Singer said moments like these highlight the critical role of community-based providers when government systems falter.
But planning remains difficult.
Romania Dukes is looking for creative ways and memories from her ancestors to help families amid SNAP cuts.(Courtesy of Romania Dukes)
“It’s impossible to plan for this,” she said, noting compouned funding cuts in recent years. “Our social workers are superhuman. They guard donor and government dollars judiciously.”
Metellus noted the stress on both social workers and residents. She says some clients are hearing rumors that food stamps won’t be restored at all, or sharing concerns that their Social Security checks might be impacted.
“When they stress, they are gonna have health impacts,” Metellus said, especially those with diabetes, high blood pressure and other illnesses. “Imagine someone now having to face, ‘OK, do I use my money to buy my medication or do I buy food?’”
What’s next?
The nonprofit sector’s ask is urgent: clarity, collaboration, and cash.
“We are asking the community to help us by bringing their food donations, help us by making monetary contributions,” Spicer said. “What would make the biggest difference for us would be corporate donations — they have millions of resources. We really need that support.”
Meanwhile, weekly distributions continue — at Curley’s House every Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m.; at the JCS Kosher Food Bank Monday through Friday; and at Sant La Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Mothers Fighting for Justice’s meat distribution is also set for Nov. 8 at Meat Giant in Homestead.
READ MORE: Palm Beach County shares information on food resources as SNAP payments remain in limbo
“Let’s ensure that no child goes to bed hungry and that our families have the food they need to thrive,” said Dukes.
Sant La, JCS, Mothers Fighting for Justice and Curley’s House are each also participating in this month’s Give Miami Day. For more information or to donate from Nov. 15-20, visit www.givemiamiday.org.
This story was produced by The Miami Times, one of the oldest Black-owned newspapers in the country, as part of a content sharing partnership with the WLRN newsroom. Read more at miamitimesonline.com.
