Sonoma County Steps In To Help Fill CalFresh Funding Hole: What To Know

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Somoma County officials are freeing up $1 million to bridge the gap in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or SNAP, and readying for another next round of federal safety net cuts.

Supervisors voted Tuesday to release funds to the Redwood Empire Food Bank, which will continue distributing food until the end of January.

On Dec. 9, the Board of Supervisors will consider declaring a local emergency in order to develop a plan to deal with the current and future federal cuts.

Nearly 43,000 Sonoma County residents receive more than $8.2 million every month through CalFresh, California’s version of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

More than half of them are children or above the age of 60.

Payments stopped Nov. 1, due to the continued Federal Shutdown and the withholding of $5 billion in Federal reserves for SNAP (food assistance).

The Trump Administration cut off benefits before a federal judge last week ordered the payments to resume. But that still leaves thousands without a safety net to pay for other essentials like rent and gas.

The original proposal would have authorized distributing up to $200,000 to the Redwood Empire Food Bank.

Supervisors changed course after speakers during public comments at the Tuesday meeting asked the county to do more.

“This support from the County comes at a critical moment for thousands of local families,” Allison Goodwin, chief executive officer of the Redwood Empire Food Bank, said in a statement. “The federal shutdown has created an unexpected gap for people who rely on CalFresh. These funds will help us alleviate hunger in our community and keep nutritious food flowing where it’s needed the most.”

Officials from the Sonoma County Human Services Department announced on Tuesday that some CalFresh benefits will be available for November. But the amount to be added to EBT cards is unknown while California officals wait for instructions from the federal government.

Napa County Supervisors approved $1 million in emergency funding and marshaled additional help from local nonprofits and foundations to help offset the freeze on SNAP, called CalFresh in California. The money will used for grocery and meal gift cards available to the more than 10,000 residents of the county who will not receive CalFresh benefits.

Napa county will draw on Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement funds, which originated with lawsuits against the four largest tobacco companies in the U.S. to recover billions of dollars in health care costs associated with treating smoking-related illnesses.

Similarly, Contra Costa County supervisors are making $21 million in emergency funds available for CalFresh recipients affected by the federal government shutdown.

Sonoma County officials have focused on channeling resources through the Redwood Empire Food Bank, which works with a network of partners.

Those partners are already starting to feel the strain.

Patty Dahl, a manger the Healdsburg Food Pantry, which is part of that network, said the need for assistance is growing and expected to continue.

Dahl is hoping Healdsburg donations will increase — even before Nov. 1 the amount of federal food distributed to food banks dropped.

About 5.5 million Californians are served under CalFresh and it is a major part of the nation’s social safety net.

Official statements from the USDA that benefits would be delayed in November sent states, food banks, and SNAP recipients scrambling to figure out how to secure food. Some states said they would spend their own funds to keep the program running.

In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom deployed the National Guard to assist at food banks. The governor and California Attorney General Bonta also announced the lawsuit against the Trump administration.

Kat Schuster contributed to this report.