Fort Worth residents on SNAP face uncertainty as program remains in limbo
It was only 9:30 a.m., but the Broadway Baptist Church’s food pantry was already at capacity.
The pantry wouldn’t officially open until 10:30, but hungry people had begun lining up at 9 a.m., eager to shop for essentials that they couldn’t afford.
One of those in line was James Gyurkovic, who has been coming to Broadway Baptist’s food pantry for the last several months, ever since he fell and injured himself and had to stop working.
Gyurkovic also receives about $295 in monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, which he supplements with trips to the food pantry. He’s supposed to receive his benefits Nov. 20, but this month he doesn’t know if he’ll receive them.
SNAP benefits have been in limbo during the government shutdown. Most recently, the Supreme Court allowed the Trump administration to continue to withhold some funding for food stamps, pausing the ruling of a lower court judge who had ordered the administration to fully fund SNAP. The government appears to be close to reopening Monday, after eight senators broke ranks with the Democrats and backed a Republican plan to fund most federal agencies through January.
Gyurkovic said the SNAP program was “essential” for him and his wife.
“That’s been the saving grace for us,” Gyurkovic said. “That’s what kept us going.”
Erin Cooper, Broadway Baptist’s community center manager, oversees the church’s food pantry, clothing room, sack lunches, and other programs. Cooper said the food pantry has seen an increase in demand since the beginning of 2025, at about the same time when the pantry lost some of its federal funding.
“We have not had enough food and funding to meet the increased need of late,” Cooper said.
The food pantry’s goal is to serve 30 people per shift, she said.
Cooper said she explained to her congregation the crucial role SNAP plays in providing food to those in need.
“For every meal the food bank provides SNAP is providing nine,” she said. “The church cannot step in and provide all nine of those meals. It’s not sustainable.”
About 10% of Tarrant County residents receive SNAP benefits, and more than 112,000 of those are children. Across the entire county, about 16% of residents are food insecure.
“SNAP is an incredible program,” said Craig Gundersen, a professor at Baylor University, in a media briefing. “It really reaches those who are most in need.”
People who receive SNAP benefits are between 20% and 30% less likely to be food insecure than eligible non-participants, he said.
Dr. Hilary Seligman, a professor of medicine at University of California, San Francisco, said delays in SNAP benefits could impact the health of SNAP recipients because there are only two ways to substantially reduce your household food budget: By changing the quantity of food you eat, which could mean going hungry, or by changing the quality of the food you eat, and buying foods that are higher in fat and sugar, she said. Foods higher in fat and sugar increase risk for obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other chronic diseases, she said.
“Households are going to have to make really difficult choices,” she said.
Alice Mayfield supplements her SNAP benefits with visits to three food pantries. On Saturday, she was in line for the food pantry at Altamesa Church of Christ, hoping to get some meat to bring home to her family. She said she receives about $150 in SNAP benefits each month, and that the benefits were “very important” to her family.
“I have three adults to take care of,” she said.
If she doesn’t receive her SNAP benefits this month, Mayfield said she wasn’t sure what she would do.
“Just keep going to food pantries I guess,” she said.
This story was originally published November 10, 2025 at 1:45 PM.
