Month: March 2025

Take the SNAP Challenge: Raise Awareness of Hunger in Your Community

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Why Participate in the SNAP Challenge?

Could you get the nutrition you need on just $6 a day? That is the daily reality for more than 40 million people across the country who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

SNAP is the nation’s first line of defense against hunger for people with low incomes. This federal program provides benefits to eligible people to purchase food at grocery stores, supermarkets, farmers’ markets, and other SNAP-authorized retailers.

Although the SNAP benefit is vital to the individuals and families who participate, the average SNAP benefit is not enough for most people to have an adequate and healthy diet. The SNAP Challenge offers a glimpse of the struggle millions of people with low incomes face daily to obtain nutritious food.

By attempting to live on the average SNAP benefit, SNAP Challenge participants find themselves forced to make food shopping choices on a limited budget and learn how difficult it is to avoid hunger, afford nutritious foods, stay healthy, and be focused on work, school, and taking care of family.

By participating in the SNAP Challenge, you will:

  • raise awareness of hunger in your community,
  • promote the need to increase SNAP benefits, and
  • get the attention of Congress to protect SNAP.

While living on a SNAP budget for a few days cannot come close to the struggles encountered by families wrestling with all of the issues that come with poverty, your participation will help you gain a new perspective, greater understanding, and more compassion.

Nevada Districts with most SNAP Households

District 1 (Amodei)- Total Households (287,239); 46,284 on SNAP (16.1 percent)

District 4 (Horsford)- Total Households (276,224); 41,193 on SNAP (14.9 percent)

District 2 (Titus)- Total Households (310,163); 31,102 on SNAP (10 percent)

District 3 (Lee)- Total Households (309,767); 27,524 on SNAP (8.9 Percent)

Congressional Recess Action Alert

The upcoming congressional recess (March 15–23) will be a great time to engage and involve Members of Congress in the SNAP Challenge, March 18–20.

Here are some different ways your congregation can engage in the various challenge activities:

  • Participate in the challenge;
  • Take part in a SNAP Shop;
  • Host a community roundtable conversation with your congregation along with those taking the challenge and current or former SNAP recipients.  
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Non-Partisan Vigils In DC 

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On Wednesdays in March via Livestream, ELCA Advocacy, alongside Sojourners and other faith-based partners, will hold a series of nonpartisan vigils every Wednesday at 9 AM PT through March 26 on Capitol Hill. These gatherings will speak truth to power, shedding light on what’s at stake and the communities already impacted. Each vigil will feature faith leaders from diverse traditions offering prayers, reflections, and calls to faithful action.

Register today to receive event reminders and links to the livestream.

Register HERE!

ELCA ADVOCACY ACTION ALERT: Keep funding support for housing programs in FY 25 and FY 26

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Congress has a new fiscal deadline of March 14 to pass the 2025 budget when a temporary stopgap expires and to begin the process of the Fiscal Year 2026 budget plan. Due to continued inflation in the housing market, congressional staff have indicated it will be nearly impossible to find enough funding to renew existing housing programs in the annual federal budget — making housing this fiscal year a core crisis that could devastate the work of many of our ministries among those of us experiencing homelessness and unstable housing. 

Recent administration freezes on housing program funds have created additional instability, while proposed cuts to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administrative workforce would debilitate program implementation. The restrictions on nonprofits in the House of Representatives continue to inadvertently bar faith-based and religious entities from making their own appropriations requests, adding new challenges for our partners active in providing essential shelter needs. 

Adequate funding for shelter, expanding housing supply and maintaining HUD’s operational capacity are crucial to ensuring that all people, especially the most vulnerable among us, have access to a safe and affordable home.

Customize ELCA Advocacy’s letter (or write your own!) with your local experiences and convictions to your member of Congress urging them to support housing and shelter funding in the federal budget. Thank you for adding your voice!

Take Action Here!