CLEVELAND, Ohio — Hunger is closing in on Northeast Ohio much the way winter always does — gradually, then all at once.
By the end of this week, nearly half of Cuyahoga County’s 190,000 recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP, will have missed their monthly benefits. The rest will lose them if the federal shutdown — now grinding into its second month — stalls funding past Nov. 20.
County officials say calls are already pouring in from residents desperate for help — people who’ve exhausted what little they had, unsure how they’ll feed their families until Washington resolves its budget battle. The strain is growing by the day, and the safety net is fraying under the weight…