LOS ANGELES – For Zuri Crawford, the last several weeks have been an emotional whirlwind – swinging from fears to frustration to now partial relief.
A 20-year-old single mother and Riverside City College student, Crawford depends on the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to buy groceries for herself and her young son. Earlier this week, she braced herself for the possibility that – because of the federal shutdown- she would not receive the $445 that typically gets loaded onto her state-issued debit card on the sixth day of every month.
“I really feel like I’m going to be burnt out. I feel like it’s going to be hard on me because I am a single mom,” she said on a recent afternoon. “I have to push through, but I am going to be overwhelmed.”…