Food stamps, rent aid and the safety net for American’s poorest at risk as shutdown drags on

From left, Mike Wise, Charlie Brenner and Glenn Beaudin grab bags of food to take to people in need. The Chesapeake Cares Food Pantry is providing food for furloughed federal workers. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

If the government does not fully reopen by Feb. 1, nearly 270,000 rural families who receive federal rent subsidies through the USDA would also be at risk of eviction because their landlords would no longer be paid, said Bob Rapoza, executive secretary of the National Rural Housing Coalition.

“These are the poorest rural people in the country,” Rapoza said. “They’re farmworkers, they’re senior citizens, they’re disabled.”

Date: 01/09/2019

If the government does not fully reopen by Feb. 1, nearly 270,000 rural families who receive federal rent subsidies through the USDA would also be at risk of eviction because their landlords would no longer be paid, said Bob Rapoza, executive secretary of the National Rural Housing Coalition.

“These are the poorest rural people in the country,” Rapoza said. “They’re farmworkers, they’re senior citizens, they’re disabled.”