For months, food assistance from the State of Alaska has experienced major delays. While state officials say the backlog may be coming to an end, the effects persist, including in the Northern Valley.
Since last year, distribution of benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, have been delayed by months in Alaska. Multiple causes led to the delays in getting food to needy families, including a staffing shortage, antiquated computer systems, and a large influx of applicants. During much of the COVID-19 pandemic, recertification for SNAP was put off, so families could continue to receive benefits without filing additional paperwork. Once that expired, everyone on the program needed to re-apply all at once. That led to news stories around the state describing the various hardships experienced by those who rely on the program.
While the sudden increase in applications contributed to the backlog problem, the other causes have been around much longer. Representative Alyse Galvin said on the Alaska House floor last week that those other factors also merit attention.
“We also need to understand that these services are important, and unfortunately some decisions made in the past have directly affected what is happening, today.”
In an opinion piece published in the Anchorage Daily News in late April, Alaska Commissioner of Health Heidi Hedberg said the Division of Public Assistance was on track to eliminate the backlog by the end of April.
Even if the backlog has ended, Louanne Carrol-Tysdal, Executive Director of the Upper Susitna Food Pantry, says locals who rely on public benefits could feel the impact for some time.
“If you don’t have other resources, you can come to the food pantry. And it helps you, but you’re falling further and further behind every month.”
Carrol-Tysdal says stretching limited resources further has hurt some local families whose financial situations had improved to the point where they no longer needed as much help.
“It’s so easy to fall into poverty, but it takes a lot longer to dig your way out….You know, overall what has been so hard to watch is people who had taken themselves out of poverty…are now back at the food pantry for the first time in several years…because they have fallen behind, and they need additional help.”
Food banks and food pantries have seen a rise in need since the beginning of the pandemic, and Carrol-Tysdal says that trend is continuing.
“Food banks and food pantries used to be just for emergency, but across the country, overall, you’re seeing that food banks and food pantries are becoming part of an everyday need. It’s not an emergency any more. It’s just a necessity, and for Upper Susitna Food Pantry, that is where we are at.”
While needs rise and government assistance from the COVID-19 pandemic ends, the Upper Susitna Food Pantry is exploring new ways to provide services to its clients. Louanne Carrol-Tysdal says after additional federal food aid ended, it was clear that there is still a need for some families to receive help more than once a month. To attempt to address that need, the Upper Susitna Food Pantry plans to open a mobile pantry paid for with the help of grant funds from the Food Bank of Alaska and Feeding America.
“So the first time [each month], families can come here and pick up their food and their [Temporary Food Assistance Program] allocation, which is the federal program. But for the second time, you need help, one day per month, the mobile food pantry will be there.”
According to Carrol-Tysdal, the Upper Susitna Food Pantry is always in need of more volunteers, and that the mobile pantry will increase that need. She says those interested in helping with food distribution, the mobile pantry, the community garden, or any of the pantry’s other activities can email uppersusitnafoodpantry@gmail.com or call 907-733-3358.
