Three mothers – one crisis: surviving the shutdown with courage
For 35-year-old Jasmin Williams, the federal government shutdown isn’t a political debate unfolding in Washington, it’s a daily struggle to feed her children.
Williams is the single mother of three children, ages 4, 10, and 20. They have recently become homeless. Williams felt compelled to leave an unsafe apartment building where drug dealers were actively selling drugs around her children.
A former steel plant worker now living with disability, Williams said her SNAP benefits stopped arriving this month, leaving her family scrambling to stretch what little food they have.
Her two youngest children now stay with her mother, while Jasmin sleeps in her car. “It’s a pride thing,” she said through tears. “I haven’t been homeless in 11 years.”
Standing near a local white colored food truck, she said, “I have an autistic 10-year-old,” She explained that he has specific dietary needs complicated by other challenges. “He has no control or sensory awareness about eating,” she said. “If I’m not watching, he’ll sneak into the fridge. So, when benefits don’t come, it’s not just hunger, it’s chaos.”
The shutdown has disrupted many families like hers. Williams’ Minnesota Family Investment Program, MFIP, benefits have been delayed, and her SNAP account was previously hit by fraud. She said she lost two months’ worth of assistance without reimbursement. “They just let it happen,” she said. “It’s like you’re taking away what little we have, and even when hackers steal it, we don’t get it back.”
With limited funds, the family’s meals have been reduced to low-cost options. “We’ve been doing a lot of $5 pizzas,” she said. “It’s not healthy, but it’s all we can manage.”
“Her federal food funds weren’t deposited this month. That’s why I’m here now. We rely on those benefits to get by.”
Before her injuries, a spinal condition and traumatic brain injury sustained after a car accident during pregnancy, Williams worked long shifts at a steel plant, building ventilators and gun parts. “I used to work 12 to 16 hours a day,” she said. “Now I can’t do that. I have to find a job that fits my disability.”
Until then, she and her mother are trying to make their food last. She recently discovered that the local farmers market offers $23 in fresh produce for every EBT card swipe, and she’s been using that to stock up. “We’re buying vegetables, boiling them, and sealing them in Ziplock bags,” she said. “We don’t know what’s going to happen next month.”
Williams said she wishes lawmakers could see the ripple effects of their gridlock. “A lot of families will suffer due to this,” she said. “We already have homelessness, but to go hungry is something different.”
Her next steps are uncertain. She hopes to enroll in training courses to learn new job skills that can accommodate her physical limitations. “All I know is steel plants,” she said. “I want to work again, but I need to learn something new.”
As the shutdown drags on, families like Williams’ are caught in the middle: facing an impossible choice between survival and dignity, between waiting for help and finding a way to keep going.
Across from a Cub Supermarket parking lot, 20-year-old Margaret Davis fears the same fate. She receives $445 in food stamps and cash assistance to care for her four-year-old daughter, but she’s not sure how long that support will continue.
“I heard about the shutdown,” Davis said. “I’m worried [about] how I’m going to pay my bills and get food. People are already stealing from stores because they’re not getting food stamps or cash. What else can we do? We can’t just sit here and starve.”
Davis said she visits food shelves once a month but struggles to afford daycare. “It’s stressful,” she said quietly. “I don’t know what I’ll do if the benefits stop. I’m praying they don’t.”
For Ashley Jackson, a 29-year-old mother of seven, the shutdown’s threat is looming but hasn’t yet hit home. Her EBT app recently issued a warning, though. It said SNAP benefits could be disrupted in November.
“That’s what’s got me worried,” she said. “I have seven kids, ages 14 down to 11 months. If it stops, we’re in trouble.”
Jackson receives roughly $1,000 a month in food stamps. She also lives in subsidized housing. “I don’t know if that’s going to be affected too,” she said. “I try to keep up, but I don’t always watch the news like I should.”
Without a working car, Jackson hasn’t been able to reach food shelves lately. When her vehicle is running, she said she visits them “a couple times a month” to stretch her budget. “Most of my kids are in school,” she said. “I’m just trying to make it.”
The human toll of the political standoff has frozen safety-net programs millions depend on. All three women rely on government support to cover the basics: food, shelter, and childcare. But the shutdown has left them anxious, improvising, and uncertain about the days ahead.
William put it bluntly: “A lot of families will suffer due to this. We already have homelessness, but to go hungry is something different.”
Scott Selmer is a contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
29 and seven Children the oldest is 15, all I could say is wow