Breaking the Cycle of Hunger: KEJC's Efforts to Keep SNAP Benefits for Homeless Individuals and Vete

We are officially one week away from the start of this year's Good Giving Challenge, and we could not be more excited. Non-profits like KEJC rely on gifts from supporters like you, and those gifts help us work with and for Kentuckians who need someone in their corner. I want to tell you about a time when your support helped us make a big impact.

This summer, the federal government passed laws to reform the SNAP program. Included was an exemption on work requirements that often keep vulnerable groups, like veterans and unhoused individuals, from accessing public benefits. Just a few months after these reforms, scores of Kentuckians who were legally eligible to continue receiving nutritional assistance lost their benefits because they “failed to work” after receiving their initial benefit allotments. Our team held Kentucky welfare officials' feet to the fire, ensuring that they corrected their mistake and implemented the exemption on work requirements here in the Commonwealth.

By working with advocates on the ground, KEJC organized an effort to enforce the basic right of food security for our fellow Kentuckians. Once confronted with their error, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services agreed to provide the relief required by law. By the arrival of their next benefit payment date, the clients advocated for by KEJC each received their full monthly nutritional allotment and then some to make up for the wrongful cessation of their SNAP benefits during the prior month.

KEJC’s work to secure the right of homeless and veteran Kentuckians to receive nutritional assistance in their time of need means that equal justice becomes more of a reality for everyone. Our advocacy is possible thanks to help from supporters like you. Please consider supporting KEJC during Good Giving this year. As always, we are so grateful for your support!