CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Even though the federal government shutdown has ended and SNAP benefits have resumed, Clarksville Area Urban Ministries said the effects of the pause in income and aid are lingering, and the need for food, shelter and financial assistance is far higher than usual.
Before the shutdown, Urban Ministries typically saw about 250 people a month needing food assistance. But once SNAP benefits lapsed and federal workers were furloughed, that number more than doubled to about 688, according to Grace Assistance Program Manager Deborah Ashcraft.
“We saw a lot of people who have never sought assistance before,” Ashcraft told Clarksville Now. “We were seeing military families that were furloughed, and just seeing a lot of uncertainty.”…