North Bay food banks brace for surge as 50,000 residents face loss of CalFresh aid

Tanya Martinez uses her CalFresh dollars carefully — mostly on protein for herself and her 7-year-old child. She’s learned to make it last through careful portioning and planning.

Now, with federal food assistance set to halt this weekend, she’s planning more trips to food banks.

“I feel like what I get gets me by enough,” Martinez said Tuesday outside St. Leo the Great Church in Sonoma, where she picks up fresh produce and groceries once or twice a month. “But now… maybe I should come every week because I need to stock up.”

She’s one of roughly 43,000 Sonoma County residents — nearly 27,000 households — and nearly 11,000 more in Napa County, who could lose access to CalFresh, California’s version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, as the federal government shutdown stretches into its fourth week.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the suspension of benefits last week, citing a lack of funding amid the budget stalemate in Congress. The agency’s online notice attributed the lapse to stalled negotiations over extending federal tax credits tied to health-care premiums. “The well has run dry,” the notice read. “At this time, there will be no benefits issued November 1.”

“For every one meal that the Redwood Empire Food Bank provides, SNAP would provide nine,” said Allison Goodwin, the organization’s president and CEO. “While there isn’t this direct impact to food bank programs, it does impact every food bank.”

Inside the food bank’s Santa Rosa warehouse, operations are ramping up as staff brace for what could be a flood of new need. The organization expects a 20% to 30% increase in households seeking help and has prepared for a surge of up to 40%, enough to serve as many as 70,000 households if needed.

Still, the county itself has opted against following Napa County’s lead in approving emergency aid. On Monday, Napa supervisors authorized up to $1 million in grocery-store gift cards to help CalFresh recipients through the next two months.

Sonoma County officials said instead they’re assessing how to support existing programs. Angela Struckmann, director of the county’s Human Services Department, said her team is working with Redwood Empire Food Bank “to understand their financial and resource needs.”

As the North Coast’s largest nongovernmental food-aid operation, Redwood Empire is best positioned “to get food out to the community quickly,” Struckmann said. “If this were to continue months down the road, we’d have to look at other creative ways to support the community.”

Sonoma County staff have been notifying CalFresh participants about the suspension and directing them to local food pantries and nonprofits. Struckmann said about a third of Sonoma County’s recipients are younger than 18, and a quarter are 60 or older. “It’s a huge supplement,” she said.

The average CalFresh household in Sonoma County receives about $300 a month in food assistance, according to county data. Across California, more than 5.5 million residents rely on the program, and about 1 in 8 people nationwide — roughly 42 million — receive benefits.

Goodwin said her organization will continue responding regardless of whether additional county funding arrives, adding that Redwood Empire remains focused on its mission and ready to meet the need in a time of crisis.

She noted that Redwood Empire has already been grappling with cuts to two federal food programs — the Emergency Food Assistance Program, which supplies food banks with surplus commodities, and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which provides groceries to low-income seniors. Together, those reductions led to roughly a 20% drop in food available through the organization, Goodwin said.

“Prior to the federal funding cuts, we would always provide milk and eggs and protein and fresh produce… Now, we have it as we have it available,” she said.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has fast-tracked $80 million in state aid initially made available in July to food banks, allocating about $600,000 to Redwood Empire and $500,000 to Community Action of Napa Valley. But Goodwin said that money was meant to ease existing strain — not the additional blow from the shutdown.

“It’s not additional money,” she said. “It just means that we will be paid back faster.”

In Napa County, Community Action is adding a fourth day of service and expanding its Free Food Market to handle expected demand. Starting next week, its central pantry on Kaiser Road — typically open Tuesday through Thursday — will also open Fridays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Executive Director Drene Johnson said. The Free Food Market will be extended to Tuesdays, beginning Nov. 4, offering fresh produce at the county’s Health and Human Services Agency on Napa Valley Corporate Drive.

The organization’s USDA food-delivery program, which serves about 1,000 people, is also in jeopardy. Any recipients who lose access will be directed to other programs if they’re affected, Johnson said earlier this month.

Johnson said she has also asked for help from the California National Guard, which Gov. Newsom has offered to deploy to support food distribution statewide. It’s unclear if or when that assistance will arrive, but Johnson said she hopes Guard members could help transport food.

At Redwood Empire Food Bank, trucks are already carrying extra loads to about 14 sites across Sonoma County — churches, community centers and parking lots equipped for larger crowds. One, St. Leo the Great Church in Sonoma, increased capacity this week from 160 families to 200.

Outside the church in Sonoma, Anthony Cunningham, a CalFresh user who lost his hotel-inspector job last year, said he’s worried about the uncertainty.

“Every opportunity, I try to put something back. Just water or canned goods, something,” he said. “We truly are in uncertain times. We don’t know what’s going to happen.”

He’s particularly concerned for Black residents who may have less community safety-net support. “Maybe this would push us to have some type of camaraderie and unity, because we’re going to need each other,” he said.

Martinez said she’s also worried about children in Sonoma and Napa counties if the shutdown drags on as the holidays approach.

“For their Thanksgiving break, what are we going to do? These kids are going to be home and hungry,” she said. “It’s sad that this is something else to stress about on top of all the other things.”

The U.S. Senate failed Tuesday to advance a government funding bill for the 13th time, leaving no clear path to restoring the benefits.

Meanwhile, state and national tensions over the program are deepening. On Tuesday, California joined about two dozen other states in suing the Trump administration to force release of emergency reserve funds to keep benefits flowing. During the nation’s last major government shutdown in 2018 — also under Trump — food benefits did not lapse. “This is entirely different and arguably much worse,” Goodwin said.

County officials said nearly 13,000 Sonoma County residents receiving CalFresh will soon be subject to new federal work requirements under a domestic policy package approved earlier this year, which will cut some funds and tighten access to the nationwide program.

“We’ve been working to prepare for all these changes,” Struckmann said. “We thought we had more time and didn’t expect that the government would shut down prior. It certainly exacerbates everything that we know is coming.”

Struckmann said county staff have been fielding calls and lobby visits from residents worried about whether lost benefits will restored and where to find food in the meantime. The norm would be for aid to be backfilled once Congress acts, she said. In the meantime she urged residents to seek local help and for anyone hoping to join CalFresh to continue with their applications so they can be processed once when the government reopens.

Goodwin said her staff have already seen more visitors this month, though it’s unclear how much is tied to the shutdown versus other seasonal pressures, like rising utility bills and holiday costs.

“We might be a little bit ahead of the game,” she said, “but we’re OK with that.”

You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at madison.smalstig@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @madi.smals.

You can reach senior reporter Marisa Endicott at 707-521-5470 or marisa.endicott@pressdemocrat.com. On X (formerly Twitter) @marisaendicott and Facebook @InYourCornerTPD.