NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Additional funds from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will end soon.
Last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government authorized the issuance of emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for households across the nation. These emergency benefits added to the normal amount of SNAP benefits each month as long as a state of emergency existed in Tennessee.
Tennessee’s State of Emergency Order ended in November 2021, so the additional emergency SNAP benefits that some SNAP recipients have been receiving will end for their households as of December 31, 2021.
The SNAP benefits provide nutritional assistance to children and families, the elderly, the disabled, unemployed and working families.
Chattanooga Area Food Bank SNAP Outreach Coordinator Letisia Garcia-Sanchez said people depended on the additional benefits. With inflation, she said people will struggle even more going back to their regular amount of benefits.
"It's hard to tell someone, 'I'm sorry but that is all you get,'" Garcia-Sanchez said.
She said she hopes the government will reconsider bringing the benefits back.