Overview:
The SNAP program has been a major piece of the U.S. social safety network since it launched as the food stamp program in 1964. The money is loaded onto debit cards that can be used only for groceries and plants and seeds for gardens. Its funds have been in limbo since Nov. 1 due to the federal government shutdown.
The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved up to $21 million to help as many as 65,000 households countywide that may be going without enough to eat during the battle over SNAP funds.
The emergency resolution follows Saturday’s expiration of federal SNAP funding due to the month-old government shutdown. (In California the federal money food program is called CalFresh.) County officials emphasized that the loss of these benefits immediately threatens food security for thousands of Contra Costa residents, many of them children, seniors and disabled individuals.
Last month, Congress failed to pass a fiscal year 2026 budget, triggering a federal government shutdown that began Oct. 1. Since then, the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Services suspended all Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits beginning Nov. 1 and prohibited states from using Electronic Benefit Transfer systems contracted to the federal government to ensure recipients still got their benefits.
The stoppage marks the first time states have been prohibited from covering SNAP benefits during a government shutdown.
According to the county staff report, the freeze is affecting about 107,020 county residents, including nearly 59,000 children and seniors. About 10,300 households in Richmond receive the benefits, according to August Contra Costa County data.
Contra Costa County food debit card distribution sites
Starting Monday Contra Costa County will hand out pre-loaded debit cards to CalFresh recipients at the following locations from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.:
- 1305 MacDonald Ave., Richmond
- 151 Linus Pauling Drive, Hercules
- 400 Ellinwood Way, Pleasant Hill
- 4545 Delta Fair Blvd., Antioch
Two federal judges ruled nearly simultaneously on Friday that President Donald Trump’s administration must continue to pay for SNAP during the shutdown, using emergency reserve funds.
But the judges, who were in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, gave the administration leeway on whether to fund the program partially or in full for November. This brings uncertainty about how things will unfold and will delay payments for many beneficiaries whose cards would normally be recharged early in the month.
“The administrative actions to withhold CalFresh benefits is hard to understand given that members of Congress represent the highest incomes and spend only about 8% of their monthly income on food while our CalFresh households and the lowest incomes spend 33% of their income on food,” said Marla Stuart, director of Contra Costa County’s Employment and Human Services Department.
The county’s Employment and Human Services Department will purchase and distribute debit cards to eligible CalFresh households beginning Mon., Nov. 10, according to Stuart. The cards will have enough money to buy food through the end of the month.
“This is a Band-Aid,” said District 3 Supervisor Diane Burgis. “I want to say thank you for all the hard work from every department working on this and just trying to help show the picture because some people might assume this (money) just, you know, (lasts) several months — this is four weeks.”
The plan also allows Contra Costa County disaster service workers to help distribute the debit cards in Richmond, Hercules, Pleasant Hill and Antioch.
District 1 Supervisor John Gioia, who represents west Contra Costa County, made sure the county included funding to distribute the debit cards on weekends. Stuart said that her department would work to ensure that recipients could pick up their cards on at least one weekend day.
“We’re hoping that the federal government gets its act together and this administration ends the shutdown,” Gioia said during Tuesday’s board meeting. “Even though yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said they’re gonna try to have partial benefits. The president posted on his own social media that he was going to actually not follow the court order.”
Richmond residents third-highest CalFresh spenders countywide
According to county CalFresh September benefits data, Richmond has the second-highest number of businesses in the county that accept CalFresh benefits (91), behind only Concord, which has 96. Richmond residents also spend the third-most in the county ($2 million), behind both Concord ($2.7 million) and Pittsburg ($2.1 million).
In September, Contra Costa County households received $21.1 million in CalFresh benefits, with 65% of recipients being single-person households receiving $215 a month.
To get food or to help the food bank
Find free food near you: The Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano’s Find Food tool, which you can search by zip code, lists free food distribution sites across Contra Costa and Solano counties, including numerous soup kitchens or places offering free cooked meals and pantries or programs giving away groceries.
For more information: Call the food bank at 855-309-FOOD (3663).
Contra Costa College food resources: The Compass Market is a food pantry for Contra Costa College students. Students can pick up fresh food at the market in person or via a mobile order food locker.
To help the food bank: As always, the county’s food bank is accepting donations. Check its “Ways to Donate” page for information.
The county’s funding will come from two sources, including $8.2 million in COVID FEMA reimbursement revenues and $12.8 million from the county’s contingency reserves. In addition, Richmond’s largest employer, Chevron, announced Tuesday it’s giving $10,000 to five local organizations to address rising food insecurity:
Community Housing Development Corporation’s Corrine Sain Senior & Family
Community Center, Bay Area Rescue Mission, Greater Richmond Interfaith Program, Multicultural Institute of Richmond and Contra Costa College’s food pantry.
“Surveys show that 54% of students at Contra Costa College are food insecure, which
makes the pause in CalFresh benefits even harder. With increased support from donors and organizations like Chevron, CCC can bulk up on purchasing to provide more food access via its pantry as well as provide pop-up mutual aid giveaways starting as soon as this week,” said Sara Marcellino, executive director of the Contra Costa College Foundation, in a press release issued by Chevron.
California has joined 19 other states in filing a federal lawsuit challenging the SNAP benefit freeze. The state also advanced $80 million in CalFresh allocations to food banks statewide, with $2.2 million going to the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.
Contra Costa Health will distribute the cards at its Women, Infants and Children offices and plans special distribution processes for foster youths and In-Home Supportive Services consumers, with the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office providing security during distributions.
Recipients will receive two weeks of benefits upon card activation, with additional funds being loaded weekly if no federal shutdown resolution emerges, according to Stuart. The debit cards will be restricted to grocery purchases.
Local food banks report increased year-over-year demand
According to the county board meeting presentation, local food banks report increased demand ranging from 22% to 47% higher compared to this time last year. The county increased food security funding by $3.6 million for fiscal year 2025-26, including a new $3.6 million Measure X allocation to the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.
Richmondside visited two food giveaway sites on Tuesday, and anecdotally, the demand appeared strong.
At Bay Area Rescue Mission on Macdonald Avenue, which is nearing its Thanksgiving goal of raising enough money to provide 269,511 meals, as many as 50 people were gathered inside a fenced-off area mid-day to pick up items such as bread and oversized bags of carrots. Others made their way indoors to eat at the soup kitchen. Many people said that they saw more of their neighbors there than usual.
“I keep track of how bad the inflation has been, because there’s been a lot more families joining at the food bank than usual,” said Rayeion Montgomery, who lives nearby. “And I’ve seen this in two separate counties, out there in Sacramento and out here. The food bank lines have been getting longer.”
That was corroborated by Norlynton Hammond, who came to the food bank with two young children, saying they planned to visit other locations as well.
“I got a map, I go to certain ones in the morning, after I drop the kids off at school, he said.”
Almost everyone Richmondside talked to expressed anxiety over SNAP payments being put on hold.
Renee Reed of central Richmond said that prior to learning about the Bay Area Rescue Mission a few weeks ago, she had been skipping meals. Now, she said, the mission is meeting her needs. Still, she needs SNAP payments to come back.
“They should give that shit back. That’s crazy, man,” Reed said.
She’s also worried that people who go hungry may resort to crime.
“Like, that allows them to save money or even have money for other things? I can only imagine it’s going to be a lot more crime going on. I know it is. Not by me per se!”
Others at Bay Area Rescue Mission talked about what they’re doing to cope. Hammond started buying fewer things and cooking differently to make food last longer for his family.
Montgomery said shopping at Dollar Tree helps.
“So I get a lot of stuff from the Dollar Tree, ‘cause it’s affordable. So yes, I do cut my soap with water, once it starts to get down. I have been fasting. Overall, trying to get myself clean and get my body together and get myself back healthy, more healthier than I would like to be. I have been fasting. And this month, especially because food stamps ain’t gonna be coming in like they’re supposed to.”
