Fewer people in Mecklenburg County now get Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program help than at any time in the past five years. Across North Carolina, the count has slipped to 1.2 million as of January 2025 and keeps falling, according to state health officials.
Between 2021 and 2024, SNAP users statewide hovered between 1.4 million and 1.7 million. Applications are still coming in at a steady pace to the Mecklenburg County Department of Community Resources. Yet the number who actually receive help keeps dropping.
President Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law one year ago. This legislation tightened who could get food help. Work requirements got stricter. Non-citizens faced new barriers. Over the next decade, it will slash SNAP funding by more than $186 billion…