BALTIMORE — SNAP benefits are dropping to pre-pandemic levels, leaving many families with a sense of panic.
There's normally excitement welcoming a new baby into the world, but for Roxie Meyers, adding Amir to the list of mouths to feed in her home comes with a bit of anxiety this time around.
"The anxiety is about 10. It's 10. It's a struggle out here," sad Roxie Meyers.
Meyers is used to receiving the boosted monthly allotment of snap benefits like recipients across the state since March of 2020.
Now her family of 6 and 600,000 other Maryland families will receive an average of $170 less per month.
The Maryland Department of Human Services stressed for the last year that the bump in benefits was only temporary.
With the pandemic making its exit, heightened benefits are too.
"When this happens, It's going to be a lot of hungry people out there," said Leon Purnell, the Executive director of the Men and Families Center in East Baltimore.
Purnell hopes to help people like Meyers and Clarence Howard navigate the changes.
"Before these last couple 2, 3 years I've been eating healthy but now I might have to start eating hotdogs again," Howard explained.
With his fixed income on top of his health conditions, it's a struggle he's not looking forward to.
"The little income I get after paying rent, I don't have any money to pay for food, so I rely on the stamps," said Howard.
While the amount of money in snap benefits go down, grocery prices continue to head in the opposite direction
"A dozen eggs, 4 dollars. I am not going to even talk about a gallon of milk. I'm just going to say a quart 2, 3 dollars," Howard recalled.
"It's important that you try and help them because you understand what they're going through," said Purnell.
"I just now got to pick and choose you know it's going to be a lot of days where I am not going to be able to eat the things that I want. But you know I'll make do the best I can," said Howard.
Purnell hopes the little bit of help he can offer East Baltimore families adds up as the cost of keeping food on the table does too.
"Hopefully it doesn't mean okay I've got to skip a meal because I've skipped meals before because my kids, they eat first," Meyers said.
A representative with the department of human services shared this statement regarding the decreased snap benefits earlier this month saying in part:
"In January 2023, letters were mailed, informing customers that the emergency allotments would end following their February 2023 emergency allotment,"
Benefits will return to their regular rate starting early next month.
