Organizations serving UCLA students have expanded their emergency food assistance programs after the federal government shutdown delayed CalFresh benefits in early November.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that CalFresh – a program that provides nearly 5 million low-income Californians with federally funded food assistance would be delayed beginning Nov. 1 due to the shutdown. It was the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history, beginning Oct. 1 as a result of disagreements between Congressional Democrats and Republicans on a spending bill and ending Nov. 12.
Ted Lieu – the U.S. representative for California’s 36th district, which includes UCLA – voted “no” on the bill to end the shutdown.
“Republicans are finally back from their 8-week paid vacation,” Lieu said in a Nov. 12 Facebook post. “Would say welcome back, but their new spending bill fails to save healthcare and lower rising costs. Will be voting no.”
A UC Office of the President spokesperson said in an emailed statement Oct. 24 that they expected 58,000 students to be affected by the CalFresh benefit delays. More than 17,000 UC students submitted CalFresh applications in the 2023-24 academic year, according to a UC report.
Antonio Sandoval is the director of the Community Programs Office, which provides academic and basic needs support to students. He said the office broke up its response to the lapse in benefits into five pieces: food access, meals, transportation and safety, academic support and facilities. CPO worked with its student leadership council and UCLA Student Affairs to develop a plan for supporting students amid the delays, Sandoval said.
CPO distributed turkey food boxes Nov. 18 and 19, which students and other community members could apply for on its website. LaVon Nightingale Smith, the vice chairperson of the CPO Student Leadership Council and staff assistant for the office, said CPO prioritized CalFresh applicants and SNAP benefit recipients when distributing their holiday turkey boxes.
CPO is also preparing winter holiday food boxes of non-perishable items intended to feed seven to 10 people each, LaVon Nightingale Smith added. Overall, the office increased the amount of turkey boxes it distributed from about 1,300 to 1,500 boxes following the lapse of CalFresh benefits, Jiorden King said.
“We’ve hit record-breaking numbers for a lot of our events, especially for our box program as well,” she said.
[Related: CPO holds annual Turkey Box Giveaway for community amid CalFresh delays]
Sandoval said he believes the shutdown led to increased awareness of CPO’s work.
“We continue to keep our eye on emerging changes in policy related to CalFresh,” Sandoval said. “We will reassess what we should continue and what we can scale back based on demand.”
The Trump administration plans to withhold money intended for SNAP management from many Democratic-controlled states – including California – next week, according to the Associated Press. Brooke Rollins, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, said in a Tuesday cabinet meeting that the Trump administration will hold on to the funds because the states have refused to provide requested data about aid recipients, including immigration statuses and names, according to AP News.
Jiorden King, the chairperson of the CPO Student Leadership Council and a staff assistant for the office, said the council worked closely with CPO staff on developing a plan to mitigate the impacts of CalFresh delays, including the increase of food closet hours.
There are 17 food closet locations on campus – such as in the Student Activities Center and LuValle Commons – but CPO hopes to create more locations on South Campus soon, King said. The office also has extended the hours for its food closets, LaVon Nightingale Smith said.
CPO has also extended its restock hours for the CPO Basic and Essential Needs Collective Pantry, Sandoval said in an emailed statement.
King also said CPO increased hours for its CPO Commuter Van Service, so that commuter students did not have to worry about how to get to class.
“Personally, it hit really hard,” King said. “Since I work in the CPO, that’s been helping me.”
Ethan Vo, a fourth-year psychobiology student and the staff assistant for CPO’s digital marketing, design and media department, said access to the office’s resources is not restricted to students, as it aims to provide food support to everyone in need. He added that food carts are restocked every week and are available across campus.
Amid the delays, Vo said he had to take on a second job to sustain himself.
“There’s a lot on my plate now that I must do, and I feel like it’s a necessity rather than something that I enjoy doing,” Vo said, “It’s added so much stress.”
Jeanne Smith also said she was focused on distributing resources for students in need. She is the executive director of 580 Cafe – a community space located in St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, that has provided UCLA students with free food and resources since 2010.
“We are open Monday through Friday, nine to five,” Jeanne Smith said. “As long as you’re a UCLA student, everything here is offered for free.”
Jeanne Smith added that the cafe anticipated the funding lapse before it happened and began preparing their resources and seeking additional support ahead of time. She said she hopes the cafe can “alleviate the anxiety of at least not having the ability to get food.”
“Besides the food, we have a place to study – a community-centered space where it’s just no cost to come in and sit down to study, to talk to people,” Jeanne Smith said.
The cafe is prepared for future events that impact people’s ability to access food and will continue to provide resources generously, Jeanne Smith said. She added that work must be done to understand how to systemically respond to food access and resource crises.
“The communities that we serve and work with are always under stress by these kinds of movements,” Jeanne Smith said.
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