Coming together to support basic needs.
All month, in response to the stoppages and continued uncertainty around SNAP benefits, we've seen community members like you step up to give back. Because of this response, Greater New Haven's tightknit and deep-rooted network of community nonprofits and human service organizations have been rallying to offset rising food insecurity, ensuring the most vulnerable communities in our region will still have access to food, both during and after this holiday season.
But the fight isn't over.
DataHaven has projected that come December 1st, 58,000 families in Connecticut will lose significant SNAP benefits. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal joined 29 other senators in a letter to the USDA, asking on behalf of the millions of still-eligible SNAP recipients whether they would face the "additional red tape" of having to reapply for benefits.
These changes and challenges add to the affordability crisis already felt by households in our region. Food insecurity and unsheltered homelessness rates have both been at a steady incline in our state: As of 2025, 1 in 7 residents face hunger, according to Feeding America.
This is why The Community Foundation's Basic Needs Fund is targeting food access-focused organizations in this year's grantmaking cycle. I'm pleased to announce that the Fund is awarding $425,000 to 44 local nonprofits. This brings The Foundation's total grantmaking to basic needs organizations to $1.6 million so far in 2025.
Hits to the social safety net are not isolated, and compound challenges that households already faced around cost of living and healthcare.
For example, our own New Haven Healthy Start is ramping up efforts to meet needs of the hundreds of local families they serve. This can mean offering essential supplies or direct cash assistance to help new and expecting parents with household costs during this critical — and confusing — time. For Executive Director Natasha Ray, wraparound services also mean more than supplies: Ray and Fatherhood Coordinator Rodney Moore, pictured below at a recent mobile food truck distribution hosted by Connecticut Foodshare, say that they field daily calls and questions from clients around the ongoing changes to benefits eligibility.
You can hear from NHHS Director Natasha Ray, along with providers with Planned Parenthood Southern New England and Yale New Haven Health System, as they weigh in on how shifting healthcare policies affect their organizations and the individuals they serve in an online briefing on Dec. 15th at 12 p.m.
When all that is happening around us feels “too big," I have thought of how the late Congressman John Lewis reminded us, “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?”
I see that spirit in this community — in the way we show up for this moment, for one another, and for Greater New Haven. Please consider giving what you can today to the Basic Needs Fund, or directly to one of the vital organizations we are proud and privileged to support.
I’m so grateful for your partnership, your passion, and your belief in what’s possible when we move forward together. Here’s to you and your support of this vital organization, and to the hopeful, purpose-filled work still ahead.
Sincerely,
Karen DuBois-Walton
President & CEO
