The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated a sharp increase in unemployment and food insecurity across the country.  In El Paso, the unemployment rate grew from 4% in January to 15% in April.  In June 2020, the unemployment rate was 10%, with just over 35,000 individuals unemployed. Food insecurity also has increased.  In 2018, Feeding America reported that 15% of El Paso County’s residents were food insecure. In 2020, El Paso County’s food insecurity rate is expected to increase to 20.4%.  That jump will account for tens of thousands of new residents who are food insecure in El Paso County. The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) provides benefits for income-eligible residents for food purchases.  Participation in SNAP by eligible Texans occurs at a rate of 73%. This gap between the federal SNAP dollars available and the utilization of that benefit results in millions of underutilized benefits in El Paso.  In January 2020, the total SNAP payments in El Paso County totaled $16,599,410. The underutilized SNAP dollars in that one month topped an estimated $6.1 million.

$35,038

Funding available in:

GCOVID2020-600000-600300-600351

SG-COVID19-OPERATING EXP