Veterans’ requests for food and housing assistance have spiked since the start of the federal government shutdown. That’s the finding of Combined Arms, a Houston-based nonprofit that helps veterans across Texas and other states, in cooperation with 300 partner organizations.
Combined Arms CEO Mike Hutchings estimated food assistance requests have jumped 49% since the shutdown began at the start of October, while rent or mortgage aid requests are up 23% over the same period.
“We’re anticipating with the pause — specifically with SNAP, for food insecurity, and HUD-VASH, housing insecurity — about 107,000 veterans affected within the state of Texas,” Hutchings said. “These are also primarily your aging veteran population on fixed incomes or low-income veteran population, so very high risk.”…