In Fayetteville and region, poverty is up as pandemic relief ends. I see it first-hand.

Three years ago, when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down food banks across Fayetteville, I joined my church to help local food banks bring food to my neighbors facing hunger. At that time, we served a little more than 100 residents.

By this time last year, we served more than 700 people from in and around Fayetteville. This year, the number of families we serve has grown, but the food we provide is not enough. We often have to turn away families who arrive an hour after we open because our food runs out quickly.

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Back when I started, most of the families we served were primarily from Black and brown communities. In North Carolina, most higher-wage jobs go to the top 20 percent of workers with college degrees. However, Black and Latineworkers have lower high school graduation rates and tend to only qualify for low-wage jobs.

They also experience higher unemployment rates compared to white and Asian workers. So those of us who serve the poorest in our communities weren’t surprised that their poverty rates increased since the pandemic. 

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Poverty does not care about race, age

But there’s been a surprising change. These days, more and more white families are coming through our doors seeking food assistance. Now that pandemic-era assistance programs have expired, the overall poverty rate has risen. Low-income families across all races, ethnicities, and age groups are facing food insecurity and child poverty.

And we’re not the only ones witnessing this change. Food banks and pantries across the region are finding it harder to keep pace with the growing number of people facing hunger. The United States Department of Agriculture reported that in 2022, over 17 million households nationwide struggled to get enough to eat at some point during the year. That is 4 million more households than in 2021.

Why are so many more families struggling to pay for food? During the pandemic, the federal government instituted a number of policies that lifted millions of people out of poverty. Those policies included expanded tax credits that benefit low-income families with young children, increased support for childcare programs, and increased benefits under programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). 

As a volunteer for ActionNC, I participate in actions with our friends at the Center for Popular Democracy to expose the real-world effects of deep cuts to safety nets proposed by right-wing Republicans. Now that they’ve reversed pandemic-era assistance to families struggling to survive, I personally have witnessed more people struggling with food insecurity than ever before. But they don’t see what I see. 

GOP lawmakers: No compromise and an extended break

House Republicans gave themselves an extended Thanksgiving break this year, leaving Washington without making any progress on the 2024 budget. Instead of working with Democrats to reach a compromise on government spending levels, Republicans argued among themselves for weeks, voting down their own spending bills and voting out their own Speaker. Despite all that bickering, the one thing that Republicans seem to agree on is deep budget cuts to programs that millions of low-income families depend on.

These programs don’t just benefit the families that participate in them directly. Our entire community thrives when more of our neighbors have enough to eat, a safe, secure home, and access to quality childcare. 

Yet, rather than build on the success of these programs, Republicans in Congress want to return to the pre-pandemic policy of cutting them to the bone. That means participants in our program no longer receive enough food stamps and WIC vouchers to keep pace with inflation and rising food prices. 

$58 a month

One of my elderly participants saw her food assistance payment whittled down to $58 a month. That may buy her juice, eggs, milk, and bread, but not much else.

So, she comes to our food drive each month to get enough food to make up for the shortfall. And she’s one of the thousands we serve over the year — many of whom work low-wage jobs — who don’t have enough income to keep a roof over their heads, keep the lights on, pay for their medications, or afford transportation to work, the grocery store or the doctor’s office (if they have health insurance). These are the families who depend on the programs that right-wing lawmakers are determined to cut. 

MAGA right-wing extremists claim that these budget cuts are necessary to bring federal spending under control, but these programs are a tiny fraction of the annual federal budget. Forcing children to live on $11 worth of vegetables each month instead of $25 worth will not balance the budget. It will simply increase the number of hungry children in our community.

So, while congressional Republicans look forward to a month-long holiday recess in mid-December, we’re preparing holiday food drives  — one on Dec. 13 at the Howard Learning Academy, followed by a larger food drive on Dec. 16 in Fayetteville. We help our families celebrate the season with food they can’t normally afford.

Maybe if conservative lawmakers knew these families like I do, they’d have a change of heart. 

Carol Stubbs is a retired educator, administrative assistant for Feeding the Carolinas, and seasonal canvasser for Action NC. 

Michele Kilpatrick, Center for Popular Democracy Senior Federal Policy Analyst, contributed to this piece.