Gorge Grown steps up

Columbia Gorge News

HOOD RIVER — Although dollars from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) are flowing to recipients in Oregon and Washington, requirements have changed, and local organizations that stepped up to feed people during the pause took on a financial burden.

One of those organizations is the Gorge Grown Food Network. On Nov. 1, when the government shutdown officially delayed food benefits, Gorge Grown handed out $20 in SNAP Match funds and $20 in Double Up Food Bucks to qualified recipients at the Hood River Farmers Market, and gave $100 to every person on SNAP at its annual Fill Your Pantry Market a day later.

At both events, SNAP enrollees usually have to transfer money from their EBT card, and then Gorge Grown doubles or triples the amount. But this time, the nonprofit spread those dollars freely, regardless of an individual’s SNAP balance.

“There was just a lot of unknowns and a lot of fear, and folks scared but also grateful for what we could provide,” Hannah Nanda, director of farmers market operations, communication and outreach for Gorge Grown, said of the events. “Some people had less than $5 remaining on their card, their food budget, for an undetermined amount of time.”

A statewide group called the Farmers Market Fund coordinates Double Up Food Bucks, and it also contributed $3,000 for Gorge Grown to dole out at its Fill Your Pantry Market, a yearly event that offers an opportunity to buy produce, meat, honey, cheese and other local products in bulk before the winter months. Gorge Grown, however, funds its SNAP Match program primarily through internal fundraising efforts.

“We knew we would surpass that three grand,” said Nanda. “We didn’t know by how much, but Gorge Grown was committed to feeding our neighbors.”

Gorge Grown distributed more than $12,000 to 160 food-insecure families that weekend, including just under $7,000 of its own money at the Fill Your Pantry Market. Nanda said Gorge Grown depleted its SNAP Match fund and pulled from next year’s budget to do so. She also emphasized the nonprofit is always in need of financial support.

As a result of a court order, and despite appeals from the Trump administration, Oregon and Washington began distributing full SNAP benefits on Nov. 6-7. All 757,000 recipients in Oregon have received those benefits, Gov. Tina Kotek confirmed, and Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) is distributing money to enrollees on their normal issuance date, an official with the agency said over email.

Despite the rollouts, though, Nanda said that some SNAP recipients still reported their card hadn’t been refilled at the Nov. 8 farmers markets, and that’s likely due to changes implemented via Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” otherwise called House Resolution 1 (H.R. 1).

Work requirements

Set to take effect Nov. 1, one of the largest changes to SNAP eligibility concerns able-bodied adults without dependents. This group needs to prove they are working at least 80 hours a month, pursuing an education or in a training program to keep qualifying for SNAP.

Before, it only applied to adults ages 18 to 54, and adults responsible for a dependent under 18 used to be exempt. Now, all adults under 65 must satisfy the requirement, and the dependent age was lowered to 14.

Previously exempt houseless individuals, veterans and those younger than 24 who aged out of foster care must comply with work requirements as well. But while the federal government set a hard deadline, there’s some variation between Oregon and Washington as to when SNAP recipients should expect the changes to start affecting them.

For Oregonians who applied for SNAP or got recertified between July 4 and Oct. 1 of this year, the changes are already in place, and the same goes for those who applied or reapplied after Oct. 1, according to Oregon’s Department of Human Services (ODHS). People who were approved before July 4 should expect work requirements to set in throughout the next year, and ODHS will notify you when that occurs.

The agency estimates that more than 313,000 people enrolled in SNAP might be impacted by the changes enacted under H.R. 1, which also prohibited refugees, asylees and other lawfully-present non-citizens from accessing SNAP.

Across the river, Washington’s DSHS has yet to clarify when it will begin tracking work requirements, at least according to a Sept. 22 announcement, and was not able to provide a timeline by press deadline on Monday. The online version of this story may have updated information.

Approximately 131,000 people in Washington risk losing SNAP benefits if they fail to meet new work requirements, along with 30,000 legal immigrants, according to the agency.

For the most accurate information about how these changes impact you, contact your local ODHS or DSHS office. Visit oregonfoodfinder.org to locate places that provide free food, and an even broader list of resources is available at hoodriverprevents.com/resource-guide or docs.google.com/document/d/1q29cNWjmOPRHqEop72Dn4l1P2gXGm0VtQcJiCvE2clU/edit?usp=sharing.