I haven’t slept well the last few nights. I’m fighting a cold and I’m sure that’s part of it, but I’m also full of grief, and grief has a way in my life of turning to sleeplessness. I’m grieving because every refugee that I was a part of resettling over the past three years will be losing their food benefits starting on November 1st, 2025. As someone who was in charge of finding and securing housing for 254 refugee families (all of whom will lose their SNAP benefits in two days), I know exactly how horrific the impact of this will be. Refugees often have to start over once they arrive in Columbus. Even if they have degrees or specialties in their home country, these certifications don’t transfer to the United States, and many folks are working for low pay in factories and warehouses.
To put this in perspective, imagine a couple with four young children who are living off of Morse Road. Three of the children are not school-age, and the family has not been able to receive discounted childcare, so mom is staying home with the kids. Dad works at a warehouse for $18/hour, making $3120/month before taxes. Rent is $1900/month (market-rate) for a little 3-bedroom, the smallest house they can rent and still be following housing code. After taxes and rent are paid, the family is left with about $1000/month to pay for their gas, electric, wifi, phone bills, transportation and food, along with other needs that any family of six would have. Because of SNAP, they have had additional money to buy food without having to consider whether they will pay for heat, pay for their groceries, or pay for their rent. This family will lose this money on Saturday, and will now have to decide: do they stop paying rent and pay for food? Do they stop paying for food and pay for rent and heat and insurance and gas for dad to get back and forth from work? What stays? What goes? Will they end up in a shelter?
This is one fictional story that represents the crisis of hundreds of people in Columbus this winter. There are two critical events happening concurrently in the world of food justice right now:
1. Refugees and documented immigrants who came to the United States in the past five years are losing their SNAP benefits (commonly known as food stamps). This is NOT because of the government shutdown - this is a result of interpretations in Ohio of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” and refugees will not receive benefits again upon the reopening of the government. Those with permanent residency, or “green cards,” can appeal this decision, as the stripping of their benefits is not in alignment with the written laws and was erroneous. However, this process takes time, and the need is still significant moving forward until these errors prayerfully get resolved.
2. SNAP benefits will be stalling on November 1st for everyone who receives them due to the government shutdown. If the government does not reopen soon, November SNAP will either be deposited late, or (possibly) not at all.
I’d love to invite you all to join my family in praying about how you (and your kiddos) can help with this. Here’s how it’s going down in our house: this morning over breakfast, we talked to the kids about how friends of ours are not getting the help they need to put food on their tables. Because of this, as a family, we lowered our grocery budget by a number we came to in prayer, and are using that extra grocery budget money to buy Kroger cards for our friends. We talked about how we’ll be looking for coupons, and trying to find cheaper alternatives to things we already buy. Each of us may need to give up some little treats, and in this way we will be remembering to think of and pray for our friends in this hard time. If you decide to take this approach, or allocate some other funds to give, here are the best ways to support our city with your giving:
1. Give to the MidOhio Food Collective monthly. MidOhio provides for most of our food pantries in Columbus, including ours at Vineyard Columbus. For every dollar they receive, they turn it into $4 of food. Even if you cut your grocery budget by $5/month, that will turn into $20 of food.
2. Partner with Community Refugee and Immigration Services in collecting Kroger cards OR providing a “Pantry Staple Kit.” A small group I’m involved in will be specifically partnering with CRIS to get Kroger cards for a single mama and her two boys that we’ve been connected to for the past year, and I am happy to also receive Kroger cards for her if you want to serve a specific family directly.
3. Vineyard Columbus is committed to finding long-term solutions for food scarcity, and one of the ways we are doing this is building a food market at our Community Center over the next year. This market will allow us to serve folks every week instead of once per month — something that is crucial in times like these. If you want to be a part of a long-term solution and help fund this project, email me at laura.weiant@vineyardcolumbus.org and I will make sure you get details on how to give.
None of us can fix this problem alone. But all of us working together, pulling in the same direction toward a common goal? That’s a different story. I believe that God is sovereign and good, and I believe he works through us to make change in this world. Let’s partner with Christ to love our local neighbors during this holiday season.
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”
— Isaiah 58:6-9, NIV