GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — At food pantries across Wisconsin — including Trinity Lutheran Church in Green Bay — the lines are getting longer. While shelves struggle to keep up with demand, lawmakers in Washington remain locked in a budget stalemate, leaving the future of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in doubt.
For families facing food insecurity, that uncertainty is devastating.
One mother, Taylor Wilson of Appleton, says the support can mean the difference between stability and despair.
From Career Success to Financial Strain
Armed with three degrees and a thriving career, Wilson never imagined SNAP benefits would become part of her life. That changed when her two-and-a-half-year-old son, Oliver, was diagnosed with cystinosis — a rare disease requiring intensive medical care. Oliver receives most of his nutrition through a feeding tube and depends on frequent medical checkups.
“When Oliver went into the hospital, the entire world stopped for me,” Wilson recalled. After her employer couldn’t accommodate his demanding medical schedule, she lost her job and began freelancing from home, balancing deadlines with caretaking.
Seventy-five dollars a month in SNAP benefits may sound small, she said, but “bridging that gap…has made all the difference in the world to us. When money is that tight, $75 goes a long way for two people.”
A Growing Need at Local Pantries
Selena Darrow, president of Rooted In Inc. in Appleton, says her pantry has seen nearly double the number of community members seeking help since May.
“Food is a basic human right. It is not a privilege,” Darrow emphasized, calling the delays “absolutely disheartening.”
Wilson says SNAP makes it possible to afford a variety of foods her son needs but that aren’t covered by WIC. Without it, she — and Oliver — risk facing nutritional gaps just as his medical needs remain urgent.
Fear Beyond the Kitchen Table
While the loss of SNAP benefits would strain her budget, Wilson’s deeper worry is the future of Medicaid, which covers Oliver’s life-sustaining treatments.
“One medication costs $70,000 a month. I don’t make $70,000 a year, let alone a month,” she said.
For now, she’s leaning on friends and neighbors — resources she knows aren’t available to every family. “It’s going to put families in a desperate situation,” she said. “In a time like this, it’s going to take community to do the jobs our government is failing to do.”
A Call to Action
Wilson’s message to Capitol Hill is simple:
“Do your jobs, please. Go back to the negotiating table, put together a budget that will protect health care and keep the cost down and affordable for millions of families like mine — but don’t let SNAP benefits fall by the wayside.”
As Green Bay and communities across Wisconsin work to meet the growing need, she fears both time and resources could run out.
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