Like many kids, nine-year-old Yulan and her 12-year-old brother, Yahweh, love noodles and Lunchables. Their mom, Tyii Dillard, 34, does everything she can to make sure they can have them. She clips coupons, plans meals and stretches each grocery trip a little further than the last.
“I kind of feel guilty because I’ve been eating a lot,” Yulan said. “I did not know how much my mom was going through.”
Dillard relies on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as SNAP, to help cover groceries for her two children and her mother, whom she cares for. According to the Department of Economic Security, she is one of 855,273 Arizona residents whose food assistance is set to expire on Nov. 1 while federal lawmakers disagree on a national budget. She said the family has yet to even receive their October benefits…