OUR Center anticipates increased need as SNAP benefits decrease

SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, decreased by an average of $90 per person this month. Local food pantries are trying to stock up for the anticipated demand but say the process is difficult.

The OUR Center in Longmont is a family resource center that helps families in need reach their potential. It offers services that provide residents a “hand-up to prevent homelessness, maintain work and performance in schools, and enhance family and individual potential,” its website states.

Of the many services offered, the community market is a popular one. Clients can shop in the center’s market and take home the items they need. 

According to Marc Cowell, the center’s executive director, many of the people who utilize the market pantry do so to save money on food so they can pay for other expenses such as housing, utilities or medical bills.

Since the SNAP benefit reduction began only days ago, Cowell said the nonprofit has tried to anticipate which needs will be increased, but it simply doesn’t know.

“We anticipate that we will see significantly higher numbers, we just don’t know when that may start,” Cowell said. “We’ve seen a 24.5% increase in our market visits in 2022 over 2021. We are actually seeing a community need right now that’s even higher than it was at the height of the pandemic.” 

Cowell said tax season usually indicates a slower period because families are able to use their tax refunds to pay expenses. 

Despite the trends of the past, Cowell said the OUR Center has worked to procure food through Community Food Share and the Feeding America food rescue program.

However, food donations to the center have remained flat over the last few years.

Donations “are great but it isn’t keeping up with the community need,” Cowell said.

To supplement that need, the OUR Center has begun spending upwards of $30,000 a quarter to restock food for its pantry. In prior years, the center would spend very little to procure food as donations kept the pantry well stocked, Cowell said.

“There was plenty out there and the need wasn’t as high. What we were bringing in was able to keep up with what we were providing back out into the community,” Cowell said. “In the three and a half years that I have been here, this is the first time we are spending money to try to keep the shelves full and keep up with the need.”

In 2022, the OUR Center provided 950,000 pounds of food for the community. Cowell said this number was down from the previous year, however, that was due to a lack of donation, not a lack of need. 

The OUR Center keeps an updated list of items it needs on its website. Right now, Cowell said the biggest needs are animal protein and eggs. 

“The cost of living continues to rise and families are struggling to keep pace. So whether it is a reduction in their SNAP benefits or they weren’t even receiving SNAP benefits, the ability to visit a food bank or food pantry is more than just addressing food insecurity, it’s a strategy to help people to be able to pay all their bills,” Cowell said.