EASTHAMPTON — From funding for firefighters to money for nonprofit agencies supported by the United Way to housing subsidies, the nearly monthlong partial federal government shutdown is taking its toll throughout the Valley.
Easthampton, for example, is hoping to soon fund a few additional firefighters with a three-year grant from the Department of Homeland Security.
But the shutdown could disrupt that plan. Mayor Nicole LaChapelle said the city has a grant application ready to submit, but because the agency is closed, they can’t send it in.
“We’re concerned about how much time that application will be pushed back and what we can depend on for this fiscal year,” LaChapelle said.
United Way of Hampshire County receives grant funding from a Federal Emergency Management Agency program that the group then administers to other organizations. But because of the shutdown, the United Way hasn’t seen some of those funds yet, said John Bidwell, executive director of United Way of Hampshire County.
“Those funds are on hold until the shutdown ends,” he said.
Bidwell said the shutdown has caused disruption for local service organizations. “A lot of these organizations run close to the bone and they’re providing essential services,” he said.
Housing is also under threat. In Massachusetts, 56 privately-owned developments with subsidies from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development could lose their funding because the agency is closed, according to an analysis by the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.
And many of the 47,000 federal employees in Massachusetts are furloughed without pay.
“This hurts the people on the bottom that live paycheck to paycheck,” Congressman Richard Neal, D-Springfield, told the Gazette. “That makes its way through the economy.”
He’s worried this will significantly impact the economy, and pointed out that federal contractors are in a particularly bad situation as there is no guarantee that their lost wages will be made up.
Mass 211, a 24/7 phone service that connects people to government benefits and other local resources, is preparing for an increase in calls from people looking for help paying bills and accessing food. So far, the service hasn’t heard from many people with immediate needs stemming from the shutdown, said Paul Mina, president and CEO of Mass 211. Rather, they’ve been fielding calls from people with questions about potential future needs.
“I think there is an anticipatory bump,” he said, though he said it’s hard to pin it all on the shutdown. “I think there are more calls for sure.”
He worries that if the shutdown continues, the biggest impact will be on people’s mortgages.
“It’s the number one major expense people have in their home,” he said.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps, has been a major area of concern during the government shutdown. In 2017, the program reached 764,000 people in the commonwealth, more than 10 percent of the state’s population, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The program will be funded at least through February in Massachusetts. On Thursday, the Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance announced that 93 percent of households with SNAP benefits will get them before this Sunday — earlier than normal — and recipients will not get any more SNAP money until the end of February.
Northampton Survival Center Executive Director Heidi Nortonsmith said overall that’s a good move. But she worries that the information may have not reached everyone, and the early influx of money is potentially confusing for recipients.
The center itself gets some federal funding, but not very much — the shutdown does not put them in jeopardy, Nortonsmith said.
Some organizations worry what will happen if the shutdown continues and predict an increase in demand for food assistance. A group of state anti-hunger organizations, including the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, asked Gov. Charlie Baker Thursday to prepare a “disaster plan” to address their concern and called for an end to the shutdown.
Despite the stress of the shutdown, many Valley organizations are available to help. The office of Holyoke Mayor Alex B. Morse recently announced that Margaret’s Pantry will give a free share of food to those affected by the shutdown. Several state anti-hunger organizations recommend calling Project Bread’s FoodSource Hotline at 1-800-645-8333, and Mina of Mass 211 reminds people that the organization can help connect people to services by calling 211 or visiting its website.
Nortonsmith encourages those in need to get in touch with the Northampton Survival Center, even if they haven’t before.
“What we know over the years from working with people in need, it’s much more common for people to suffer in silence and shame then to come in and ask for things,” Nortonsmith said. “People should not labor under that feeling of pride or that they did something wrong. If they are in need they should tell us.”
Greta Jochem can be reached at gjochem@gazettenet.com