Sonoma County approves up to $1 million in funding to help cover federal food aid gaps

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The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved up to $1 million to boost food access and supplies amid a freeze on federal food stamp funding tied to the six-week government shutdown.

The local funds will be used to help alleviate some strain on the almost 43,000 county residents who rely on federally funded food aid, known in California as CalFresh.

The original proposal on the table for supervisors would have authorized the county’s top administrator to distribute up to $200,000 to Redwood Empire Food Bank, the region’s largest nongovernmental food aid operation.

But during public comment Tuesday, a dozen or so speakers encouraged the county to do more, pointing to nearby jurisdictions like Napa County, which approved $1 million in grocery and meal gift cards, or Alameda County and San Francisco, which approved more than $8 million for food bank and community organizations and $18 million in gift cards through a public-private partnership, respectively.

Following testimony, Supervisor Chris Coursey proposed boosting the county’s contribution up to $1 million and exploring other ways to support food assistance. He also asked county staff return at the board’s Dec. 9 meeting with an emergency declaration to help the county manage both the fallout of the federal shutdown as well as sweeping safety-net cuts coming as part of President Donald Trump’s sprawling domestic policy and tax package passed in July.

Coursey derided the suspension of government food aid, supporting 42 million people nationwide, as a “deliberate act of cruelty” “being done to make political points.” It will compound, he said, a larger, long-term affordability crisis in the U.S. and the still-evolving impact of cuts to other federal programs, including Medicaid.

“About a third of the people who live in this country can’t afford to live in this country,” Coursey said. “I don’t think we are going to fix the economy over the next year or two, but I think we can start by recognizing this for what it is – an emergency.”

Other supervisors echoed the sentiment and unanimously approved both proposals — the $1 million gap funding and bringing back an emergency declaration next month. Redwood Empire Food Bank will remain the main conduit for the funding. The county will also consider how and whether to leverage additional district-specific funds at a meeting Friday and staff will explore philanthropic partnerships.

“We knew we were going to have moments like this where we had to dig deep,” Supervisor David Rabbitt said.

After the vote, Redwood Empire CEO Allison Goodwin said she was focused on the work that now needs to be done to ensure the money goes as far as possible and is spread out between the organization’s 130 community-based partners also supporting immense and growing need.

Amid the federal government shutdown, the Trump administration suspended Nov. 1 the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP benefits, leaving roughly 1 in every 8 Americans, including about 100,000 North Bay and North Coast residents, without their monthly food aid for the first time in the program’s history.

In Sonoma County, almost 43,000 people receive CalFresh benefits, totaling $8.2 million in September, with households receiving an average of $300 in benefits.

Following a court ruling ordering the U.S. Department of Agriculture to use available contingency funds to keep the program running, the Trump administration said Monday it would restore some aid, but only half the benefits for November and on an unclear timeline. Then on Tuesday, President Donald Trump signaled again that he would withhold SNAP benefits until the shutdown ended.

Meanwhile, food banks and pantries, as well as a patchwork of nonprofits and restaurants have stepped in to try to fill the gaps, ramping up operations, organizing impromptu food drives and organizing emergency funds. Many are already strained as rolling federal funding cuts have hit the organizations and those they serve.

On Monday, long lines stretched outside food distribution sites in Sonoma County. Before the Friends in Service Here food pantry in Santa Rosa had opened its doors, cars were backed up down Sebastopol Road and through the intersection. “The line never let up all day,” said volunteer Tom Duly, who added he had to stand in the street turning people away 20 minutes before closing because there were still so many people waiting.

Redwood Empire Food Bank, which supports 45,000 people in Sonoma County alone, is preparing for a 40% increase in those seeking assistance due to suspended CalFresh benefits across its five-county territory spanning much of the North Coast. Already, the organization has been unable to keep up, Goodwin said Tuesday, especially after losing $2 million in federally funded food aid in April.

Every month, Redwood Empire Food Bank gets inquiries from about 500 new families, Goodwin said. In October that figure was 1,528, she added, “which is jarring.”

Speaker after speaker – food aid recipients, service providers and others – testified to growing food insecurity even before the government shutdown and likely to linger long beyond it. They asked that the many smaller organizations and grassroots efforts being established to fill the voids not be forgotten, nor the many differing needs of community members.

As a patron of Redwood Empire Food Bank, Cecilia Sofranko said, she knows “the lines have been astronomical for so long.” People, juggling work and families, can’t always wait it out.

“I think it’s more urgent than anyone here is treating it,” she said. “Just now, having four days of lapse, some people might be hungry or starving…People are suffering now… Let’s keep up the good work.”

You can reach senior reporter Marisa Endicott at 707-521-5470 or marisa.endicott@pressdemocrat.com. On X (formerly Twitter) @marisaendicott and Facebook @InYourCornerTPD.