Cleveland Health Department wants to enlighten SNAP recipients

If Zainab Pixler has anything to do with it, Clevelanders who receive WIC and SNAP benefits will understand how the programs work and how to navigate the modifications introduced by the Trump administration.

In 2025, President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” includes changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Able-bodied individuals between the ages of 18 and 64 will have to work or volunteer 80 hours a month to continue receiving their benefits. According to the Federal Reserve, there are 190,000 people in Cuyahoga County receiving benefits. Approximately 5,000 people fall within the work requirements.

According to an article published in the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the bill also plans to underfund the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program; it would cut WIC’s fruits and vegetables benefits for 4.3 million young children, along with breastfeeding participants, by the end of this year.

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Pixler is the local food systems strategies coordinator for the Cleveland Department of Public Health. She plans on using a new program to conduct outreach to Clevelanders about these changes. She says four people working under the title “Cultivating Cleveland’s Next Generation” will be trained through the city’s Next Generation program. 

“The food access navigators will be youth between the ages of 14 and 24 years old, who will speak about the complicated changes to the SNAP program,” she said.  “Many people in the community have expressed concerns about what it’s going to mean for their lives moving forward.  Some of the changes have already begun, and most will be implemented throughout the year. So, we’ll be training these young people, making sure they understand the changes, making sure that they know how to communicate the changes, and then we’ll deploy them out into the community to speak with community members about the changes to the program and make sure folks really understand what’s coming. They will also be working to develop resources, one-pagers and social media posts.”

Pixler, along with Dr. David Margolius, director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health, went before Cleveland City Council’s Health, Human Services, and Arts Committee on Feb. 9, headed by Councilman Kevin Conwell, to get approval for an already secured $24,000 grant from the “Share Our Strength No Kid Hungry” campaign.

According to Pixler, the money will be sub-awarded to the FARE Project, Elements of Internal Movement, or Revolutionary Love Farm (RevLove), which is a farm and programming project out of the Mount Pleasant area. All the funding will be used as stipends for the youth, as well as for event planning purposes. Both Fare and Elements will use it for project management.

Morgan Taggert, director of the FARE Project, is one of the project managers who will help design the “Cultivating Cleveland’s Next Generation” program. According to its website, the association is a broad-based, community-wide initiative designed to connect and support organizations and individuals engaging in healthy food access work in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.

“We will be working together with RevLove Farm to help formulate the program,” she said. “So, Shirley Bell Wheeler is the executive officer of the farm, which is located on East 123rd St. in Cleveland. The farm has been operating for several years and offers programming for the community around food, gardening, healing, and health and wellness. They also partner with Youth Opportunities Unlimited for summer employment opportunities. Bell and her team at the farm are the other project partners for this grant.”

The group will be paid $15 an hour. Navigators will work approximately five hours a week for a maximum of $3,000 in wages each for the duration of the project.

The hope is that this initiative will also educate recipients of SNAP on how to navigate other programs to get connected with other resources around Cleveland for food.

Julie M. Johnson, CEO of the Hunger Network, admitted she didn’t know much about this new program coming out of the Cleveland Department of Public Health, but feels there is always a need for transparency.

“But I believe any kind of effort or initiative to educate the public at large about the impact of the SNAP requirements in the One Big, Beautiful Bill act is a great idea,” she said.

“We would like to allow folks who need to fulfill 80 volunteer hours to do it at Midtown Market or other initiatives that we may have. We’re unclear how we can best document those who might be interested. The government has not released any kind of form to record those hours.”

Jessica Semachko, director of advocacy and public education at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, is armed and ready to support those affected by the changes. As she sat at her desk, the GCFB’s March 11 job fair in the next room was filling up.

“March is the first month that people who are receiving benefits will need to demonstrate that they are either working or eligible for the exemption,” she said. “Starting in June, we will see the impact of the changes. So, connecting them with Jobs and Family Services is essential. Today is the first of several job fairs we’ll host. At the end of this month, we’ll have a job readiness workshop, which will help our neighbors with resume building, interview tips, and ways to connect them to the workforce.”

Despite the challenges, many have come to terms with the new requirements, but not without making tough decisions.

“I’m disabled, and you want me to leave my home and put in 80 hours a month for $23 in SNAP benefits?” said Tyrone Gaston, a Cleveland resident.  “Social Security tells me I’m not allowed to work unless I want my benefits reduced. I told them to take me off the SNAP program. So, my daughter suggested I come to the job fair to see if there might be some part-time opportunities to supplement my Social Security benefits. I want to be able to afford to have enough food to feed my grandchildren when they visit.”