Catholics support restoration of COVID-era food assistance as inflation soars
New Jerseyians who receive grocery assistance under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will not see a decrease in monthly stipends despite the fact that a temporary increase provided through a federal program during the COVID-19 pandemic ended this month.
SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a nutrition assistance program provided by the federal government that serves as a safety net for low-income households. During the pandemic, the government increased the amount of assistance people received through the Temporary Emergency Supplemental Food Assistance Benefits program by at least $45. But that additional assistance ended on March 1, leaving some Catholic advocates concerned that low-income individuals and families may not be able to put food on the table.
Legislation, which Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law in February after it passed both houses with near unanimous support, establishes that the minimum monthly SNAP benefit eligible New Jersey households can receive at $95. The law restores the $45 increase people received during the pandemic.
The Mercy House director Cheryl Riley said that restoring the funds to the families who depended on them for the last few years is a positive move. But she said her clients are now dealing with a large increase in food prices. According to Forbes, food prices rose 12% last year and are still creeping up.
The need for The Mercy House’s once-a-week food offering in Newark has only increased, Riley said. The not-for-profit opened up a location in Jersey City this past December to further its reach.
“We have doubled the amount of food we distribute each week, from 50 to 100 bags a week in Newark. In Jersey City, we’re seeing the same amount of need,” Riley said.
Most recently, Riley said, The Mercy House staff in Jersey City gave out 35 bags of food just one hour after opening on March 6.
James King, executive director of the New Jersey Catholic Conference, is also surely pleased with the new law considering he wrote a letter to Gov. Murphy expressing his support for it on Feb. 6. Speaking for the nearly 4 million registered Catholics in New Jersey, King said bill A5086, as it was then known, was crucial at a time when the prices of many common grocery items remain high due to inflation.
“The Catholic Church believes that every person has a right to life and to the material and spiritual support required to live a truly human existence,” King wrote to the governor. “The right to a truly human life requires access to healthy and nutritious food to sustain this very dignity. Yet poverty and hunger diminish so many lives in the Garden State and are threats to human life and dignity.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that, in 2020, about 657,320 people, including 175,830 children, in New Jersey were food insecure. That means more than 7% of individuals and 9% of children live in homes without consistent access to adequate food for everyone to live healthy, active lives, according to New Jersey Catholic Conference officials.
The average household in New Jersey receiving SNAP benefits receives $277 a month. Recipients will now have to complete forms that were paused during the pandemic — the SNAP Interim Reporting Form and SNAP Recertification. Recipients will receive a notification through the mail when the forms are due. Clients can contact their local board of social services for assistance.
Typically, New Jerseyians can qualify for SNAP benefits if they make no more than $2,096 a month for a one-person household or $4,279 a month for a four-person household. To see a complete list and to access the SNAP eligibility calculator visit www.snapscreener.com/guides/new-jersey.
More college students may be eligible for SNAP if enrolled at least half time in an institution of higher education. Students are also eligible for SNAP if they participate in a state- or federally-financed work-study program or have an expected family contribution of $0 as determined by the Higher Education Act. For more information about eligibility for college students, visit www.NJSNAP.gov.
Households receive SNAP benefits on electronic benefit transfer cards, which can be used only to purchase food at one of about 5,800 locations in New Jersey.
Featured image: A man holds a sign protesting cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington May 7, 2018. Thirty-two states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories ended a temporary COVID-era increase in SNAP payments March 1, 2022. Eighteen states previously ended the additional SNAP benefits Congress provided to states in March 2020 to help low-income individuals and families deal with the financial hardships of the pandemic. (OSV News photo/Joshua Roberts, Reuters)
