Symeuang is an elderly, blind, disabled Laotian mother of three children living in Milwaukee. Before she became ill, she worked full-time—often overtime on weekends—to provide for her family. “In 2020, I developed severe kidney disease and could no longer work or provide for my children, especially my youngest child who currently lives with me,” she shares. With the help of a friend, Symeuang was able to apply for and receive Food Share and Medicare benefits, but once policies changed in 2025, she lost both. “Around the same time, I received a hospital bill for approximately $21,000 from a previous hospitalization,” Symeaung continues. “I could no longer afford food for myself and my youngest child because I had no money and did not know where to turn for help.”
Thankfully, Symeuang learned about Alicia’s Place, a Food Share resource center run by Hunger Task Force, where she was quickly able to access benefits again. “I felt an incredible sense of relief and happiness. As the provider for my family, being able to put food on the table again meant everything to me. Tears rolled down my face before I even realized I was crying.”
It has been almost a year since the Milwaukee County board of supervisors declared food apartheid to describe the systemic, structural disinvestments from access to fresh, nutritious food in low-income areas of the city. This declaration last November acknowledges how widespread food insecurity in Milwaukee disproportionately affects Black, Brown and disabled residents, prompted by a number of full-service grocery stores closing in already-underserved neighborhoods. The problem has been exacerbated by federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), known as Food Share in Wisconsin, as a result of HR1 – President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Now, SNAP recipients aged 18-64 are required to work 80 hours a month. Additionally, rather than being entirely federally funded, states will become partially responsible for SNAP funding.
No Help for Many Americans
Research by Govtschemes.org shows between April 2025 and April 2026, enrollment in SNAP declined by approximately 5.8 million Americans, or 13.5%. Changes as a result of HR1 have and will continue to affect hundreds of thousands of people statewide. Department of Health Services (DHS) data shows that this past July, there were more than 121,000 open Food Share cases in Milwaukee County alone. While folks with disabilities and the elderly are exempt from Food Share work requirements, both populations are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity, and the red tape around receiving benefits requires more paperwork and jumping through additional hoops. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) reports that 1 in 4 Americans become disabled before retirement age…