Chicago pantries brace for SNAP cuts: 'I don't know what we're going to do'

SNAP work rules change beginning Feb. 1 — here's what to know

People showed up to a pantry in Englewood today to receive food and to get clarity about SNAP changes that begin Feb. 1.

CHICAGO - As new Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program work requirements approach a Feb. 1 start date, the most immediate impact is not the rule itself but the uncertainty it is creating for people who rely on food assistance and for the pantries that support them.

Beginning Feb. 1, some Illinois adults who receive SNAP benefits must document 80 hours of work, job training, or approved volunteer activity each month to keep those benefits. Exemptions exist, but they are not automatic and require action.

What is already happening:

Before the rule takes effect, the questions have started.

Kenneth Robinson, 61, receives SNAP and said he does not know what happens if life interferes with the new requirements.

"I don’t know," Robinson said. "What if I’m not able to meet those 80 hours, 20 hours a week, because pain, sickness? What if I’m not able to meet the requirements, then I get cut off."

Robinson said SNAP covers food he would otherwise be unable to afford.

"It’s been very important to me," he said. "Steaks are too high, eggs are high, a lot of things are too high. With SNAP, it helps me to ease the pain to get those things that I need."

Without it, he said, the backup plan is thin.

"If it wasn’t for food pantries, I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have SNAP," Robinson said. "What I get a month is not sufficient enough for me to buy food and pay my bills and all that."

Robinson said he volunteers when he can and has looked for work, but consistency is the unknown.

"I don’t know if it was successful or not," he said of past work requirements. "If it was, we wouldn’t be here now."

What pantries are facing:

At Chosen Food Pantry on Chicago’s South Side, leaders say the same uncertainty is showing up from the other side of the counter.

"Our food pantry will be 20 years old next month," said Pastor Sandra Gillespie, the assistant pastor at Chosen. "We’ve been doing this for quite a while."

Chosen distributes food twice a week and serves about 200 people weekly. Gillespie said even talk of SNAP disruptions changes behavior.

"When we first heard about it, everyone’s heart dropped," she said. "We knew that that was going to adversely affect most of our clients."

Gillespie said she expects more people to come if benefits are cut, but does not know how the pantry will stretch to meet that need.

"I’m anticipating a deluge of people coming," she said. "I already do 200 people a week. I do anticipate large crowds coming, because where are they going to go?"

She said there are limits pantries cannot push past.

"There’s no way I can provide volunteer opportunities for all the people that are going to need them," Gillespie said. "I don’t know what we’re going to do."

She also said confusion is widespread.

"They don’t understand it because we don’t understand it," Gillespie said. "They keep coming back saying, ‘So I gotta work? I gotta volunteer? Where am I going to volunteer?’"

The work requirement applies to certain adults ages 18 to 64 without dependents. People with disabilities, serious medical conditions, pregnancy, or caregiving responsibilities may qualify for exemptions, but they must apply and provide documentation.

What remains unclear for many is timing, enforcement, and how strictly missed hours or paperwork will be treated once February begins.

Where to check their status:

The Illinois Department of Human Services allows SNAP recipients to review work requirements, report hours, and request exemptions through its Manage My Case online portal. 

Help is also available at local IDHS Family Community Resource Centers and by phone at 1-800-843-6154.

Illinois Legal Aid Online provides plain-language explanations of who is subject to the work requirement, who qualifies for exemptions, and how benefit limits are applied.

As Feb. 1 approaches, SNAP recipients are weighing hours they may or may not be able to work, while food pantries prepare for demands they may or may not be able to meet.