LAUDERHILL, Fla. — Stephanie Reyes, who works to provide for a family of six, is among the estimated nearly 3 million Florida residents who benefit from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps.

Without a deposit so far this month in her SNAP card, Reyes turned to Lifenet4families, a non-profit organization that runs a community cafe and food pantry Monday to Saturday in Lauderhill.

“It would be great to get the full amount, but if half is what is going to be given, then hey, time to stretch,” Reyes said.

The average SNAP monthly benefit before the shutdown was about $190 per person. Antoine Homer, a Lifenet4families volunteer, said more people than usual are arriving at the nonprofit’s headquarters hungry.

“I see a lot, 300, 400 people a day come here to eat so it’s a struggle out there,” Homer said.

Denise Brown, the Lifenet4families chief executive officer, said the nonprofit needs to expand the food pantry service.

“When you look at the ZIP Code 33311, it has the highest rates of poverty,” Brown said about the area in Fort Lauderdale. “And obviously, that means we need to be here every day, working to do everything that we can to mitigate that.”

On Monday, during a news conference, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he was not going to declare an emergency or create a Florida SNAP, since the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services supported a list of nutrition programs.

THE WHITE HOUSE: MIXED MESSAGES

Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, announced on Tuesday that the Trump administration was “getting that partial payment out the door as much as we can and as quickly as we can.”

After cities and nonprofits in Rhode Island filed suit to protect SNAP nationwide, U.S. District Judge Jack McConnell ordered the Trump administration on Friday to use a contingency fund, with $4.65 billion remaining, to pay some of the benefits.

″We are digging into a contingency fund that is supposed to be for emergencies, catastrophes, for war,” Leavitt said.

In Massachusetts, after dozens of states filed suit over SNAP, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a memo and order on Friday saying the “suspension of SNAP benefits is unlawful.”

Also on Friday, after the two federal judges’ orders, Trump hosted a Great Gatsby-themed Halloween party at Mar-A-Lago with a guest list that included State Secretary Marco Rubio.

“The way he rubs his inhumanity in Americans’ face never ceases to stun me,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy wrote on X.

On Tuesday morning, before Leavitt’s announcement, Trump shared a post on Truth Social, the social media platform owned by Sarasota-based Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.

“SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly ‘handed’ to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before!”

During her afternoon news conference, Leavitt said the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which stopped the SNAP funding on Saturday, issued guidance to the states on Tuesday about the partial aid.

“The administration is fully complying with the court order,” Leavitt said.

More on help for those in need in South Florida

Without SNAP, Lauderhill nonprofit tries to meet higher demand for food assistance

White House: Trump administration to abide by court order to provide partial SNAP benefits

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Saira Anwer

Andrea Torres