“I’m an RN, and I work for Swedish Family Medicine Cherry Hill. A lot of our patients are on Medicare and Medicaid to get primary care from my office, and a lot of them have already complained about their concerns when it comes to food and their ability to feed themselves and their families. So, I’ve spent my free time after work trying to find options around the community, like food drives, or there are some restaurants that are even providing lunch or breakfast on certain days for my patients. So, I’ll tell them about that. But it’s just very concerning, because these people, they work really hard, and I don’t feel like food should be weaponized, because it is a basic need, and it makes me really sad that some people are denied that because of the political climate right now.”
“I don’t feel like I’m super informed about the whole thing, but I do know that right now, a lot of the SNAP and EBT benefits are being taken away, and Trump doesn’t seem to want to reimplement that for whatever reason. So, I guess my biggest concern is that the people who need all the benefits that are established right now don’t have those, and that also means that a lot of workers and people within our community in general aren’t getting the help they need. And that’s a huge issue just in general, because we should be doing everything that we can, because everyone deserves the right to have good food and housing and shelter and water. Those are just necessities that everyone should have access to.”
“In my opinion, the government shutdown is a concern. I know a bunch of guys who are going through it. Most people are going through it with traveling and airport costs, and even the military is affected by it as well. So it has been a struggle for everyone, and that is a concern. I also know that it affects people who are in the medical fields and processing through the airports. I don’t know too much about the shutdown, but from what I see on social media, it is affecting a lot of people right now.”
“My major concern with the government shutdown, as someone who wants to go into law and politics, is, in general, the impact that it has on low-income communities and the resources that they have. I think one issue that’s been brought up a lot this week is the SNAP benefits being taken away. I think that’s something that my family has previously used, and I know that a lot of people in my community and other communities have utilized it. It is a resource that is really important for those low-income communities. So just in general, the fact that the government has been shut down for so long, and that these resources that are being taken away are a concern.”
“I’ve been learning about this government shutdown that we’re not coming to agreement, and I’ve learned that the EBT and SNAP have been shut down, and for people in low-income, like myself, that affects my family personally, because we live off those food stamps, and I know a lot of people that need those food stamps to provide and have those daily needs. I feel like they only really worry about the top 20% because it is the top 20% that are holding their economy up, while the bottom 80% is still struggling and can’t move to live a better lifestyle. So I don’t understand it.”
“My concern is more about the financial instability that people are going through, especially now, when it comes to food. A lot of people are struggling to get food already, and now that they’re cutting down, all is very concerning, because there are people who are struggling. People don’t always have the resources that they need, and it is hard to ask for help sometimes. So, with the government shutting down and cutting the SNAPs, it just makes it harder for people who don’t know how to ask for help to get help. Sometimes you just don’t want to seem weak for asking for help, and overall, it just really hurts the community that is going through financial instability.”
