MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Thursday to transfer $150,000 for emergency food assistance.
The money from the contingency fund will go to the county's Department of Health and Human Services. They will work with local organizations to distribute healthy perishable food to homes most impacted by the Foodshare lapse.
READ ALSO | Trump administration appeals order to fully fund SNAP benefits for November
NourishMKE operates four food pantries in Milwaukee.
They say all of the community support is needed in this moment.
"We will take what we can get to make sure we can get as much nutritious food to the hands of our community members,” said Valerie MacMillan, executive director of NourishMKE. "We've seen a real increase in the number of the people that we’re serving. We're having a lot of first-time visits. Our numbers doubled across all of our four locations. There's just an air of uncertainty."
Watch: Community members welcome some relief after Milwaukee County supervisors approve $150K for emergency food aid
LaTisha Bully-White is with Metcalfe Park Community Bridges and grew up in the neighborhood.
She says people were already struggling when the Pick'n Save on 35th closed over the summer, so when Foodshare benefits were threatened, it only added to the challenges.
“You can kind of relax knowing that we have some type of funds coming into the community to help the people,” Bully-White said.
It is not yet clear how the county funds will be distributed.
Meanwhile, between a pantry and a community fridge, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges is working on other ways to provide food to neighbors in need.
The Department of Health and Human Services will have to report back on the impacts of these funds.
If the need is greater than what available resources can cover, DHHS can request more money in December to help provide stable access to food.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
