- Michigan beneficiaries are now expected to receive full SNAP benefits for November, though the program has been through a series of about-faces this month.
- Four Michiganders facing food insecurity spoke with Stateside about what the uncertainty over SNAP distributions has meant for their families.
For 1.4 million Michiganders who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, the past two weeks have been a whirlwind of uncertainty.
The USDA issued a freeze on SNAP benefits in early November, blaming the federal government shutdown for limited availability of funds to distribute. On Thursday last week, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to fund the program in full. But on Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s emergency appeal and temporarily blocked that order.
Now, Michigan’s state health department has ordered that full SNAP benefits be distributed for the month.
People across Michigan have been affected by the pause on the country's largest anti-hunger initiative. Stateside reached out to several beneficiaries to ask how the confusion over SNAP benefits has impacted their families and the food on their tables.
Carrie Mitchell says she applied for over 100 jobs in 3 weeks after losing her job.
She’s a single mother living in Norton Shores with her 14-year-old son, Owen. After losing her job, depleting her savings, and struggling to find financial support elsewhere, Carrie made the decision to apply for SNAP in October.
“A lot of the chatter that I've seen on social media is that, ‘These people need to go out and get a job,’” Carrie said. “I think a lot of these people are trying to get a job. It's not as easy as one would think.”
The $220 she received in SNAP benefits “meant everything,” Carrie said. But it hardly covered a full month of groceries for her and her son. Meat and fresh produce, she said, aren’t really a possibility right now.
“Now you're narrowed down to a box of mac and cheese,” she said.
Carrie has “always been very frugal,” she said. She takes advantage of coupons and shopping apps, and said she doesn’t splurge on “extras or junk food.” But even with smart shopping skills, her grocery budget has felt tight.
She was recently able to get a job as a general manager at a restaurant, but she’s not expecting her first paycheck for a couple of weeks. She said she is having to rely on weekly meals her employer has been providing for staff to feed her family.
“So there's light at the end of the tunnel for us, but there's a lot of people out there that don't have a light at the end of the tunnel,” she said.
Hear Stateside's conversation with Carrie Mitchell, originally broadcast on November 6, 2025:
Emmalynne French struggled to find stable housing after moving out of their parent’s home.
They recently got back on their feet and into an apartment. Now, Emmalynne works at a Burlington department store and lives with their girlfriend, Jade Adshead, in Grand Rapids. Each of them receives about $292 a month in SNAP benefits.
Emmalynne’s benefits are currently pending and are expected to be distributed on November 15. Beneficiaries use the ebtEDGE app to check on their SNAP balance and the status of their benefits.
“Mostly we're living off of cereal, milk, ramen, maybe some Campbell's soup,” Emmalynne said. “And we just make it last.”
The couple has sold their plasma to make extra cash on the side. They occasionally pick up groceries at a local food bank, Emmalyne said, but they sometimes struggle to cook with the raw ingredients they receive, like onions, beans, lentils, carrots, and peppers.
“Like my girlfriend has said, if our grandparents can survive the Great Depression, we can survive this Great Depression of 2025,” Emmalynne said.
Hear Stateside's conversation with Emmalynne French, originally broadcast on October 30, 2025:
Lindsay Winkler works three regular jobs.
On top of being a single mother, she also works as a caregiver for a friend, as an event bartender, and at a local auto parts store in Grand Rapids. Plus, she cleans houses on the side when she can.
She’s received SNAP benefits on and off during the 15 years she’s lived in Michigan, she said. Most recently, she’s been getting $511 per month in SNAP funds to support herself, her 15-year-old son, and 10-year-old daughter.
Her SNAP benefits allow her to get “maybe two good shopping trips” each month.
Amidst the uncertainty about the pause on benefits, Winkler has been worried about being able to provide a full Thanksgiving spread for her family.
“I cook. My sister comes over, she helps me,” she said. “And I am afraid that there's a chance this month that I might have to reach out and ask for additional help to find a turkey. Or I may have to just kind of leave off the pumpkin pie.”
Sugary snacks are generally the first to go when she has to trim down her grocery list, Winkler said. Meat, bread, basic grains, and canned food are at the top of the list.
“And there [is] an occasion or two where I do have an extra kid in my house, and they're all sports players. They eat a lot. So I found myself cutting back a lot on snacks, extra cereals,” Lindsay said. “I definitely held back on getting fruits and vegetables this month.”
Over the past year Lindsay has been noticing the rising out-of-pocket costs of her groceries. That compounded with the stress of not knowing what might happen to SNAP benefits has been putting additional pressure on her to find better sources of income, she said.
“I consider myself almost a jack of all trades. I will do anything and everything to make my money,” she said. “But at this point, I feel like I'm spending more out of my pocket for my groceries … and it's taking away from my other bills.”
Winkler's benefits are currently pending, and expected to be distributed on November 21.
Hear Stateside's conversation with Lindsay Winkler, originally broadcast on November 10, 2025:
Sara Vos first applied for welfare benefits in 2010, when her daughter was born.
She had just escaped domestic violence and survived sexual assault.
“I assumed I would get a car, help with my housing, child care, food,” she said. “I assumed that I would be set up for success, and what I actually found back then was that the resources were a lot more limited than I had been led to believe.”
For the next 5 years, Vos was on and off SNAP benefits.
“And over the past few years, as my PTSD diagnosis has fluctuated post-Covid, I found myself navigating disability and needing to go back to receiving benefits again,” Vos said.
She receives about $537 per month in SNAP benefits. It’s the most she’s ever received from SNAP, she said, but it still doesn’t cover the full monthly grocery bill for her and her 15-year-old daughter. She hasn’t had a lot of great experiences with food banks, but has been able to find help from other people in the community.
“With a lot of the food banks, they're open at certain hours and you can't always make it, especially if you're working,” she said. “So I've been able to use some Facebook groups to supplement us towards the end of the month when the SNAP money runs out.”
Vos' gluten-free diet poses an additional challenge. She has access to cultural food banks that are mindful of religious preferences and dietary needs, but even specialized food banks can have limited offerings, Vos said. She sometimes receives a bag of mystery groceries, or gets sent home with things that she or her daughter might not particularly enjoy eating.
“Of course, it's better than nothing. Of course, being fed is better than being hungry,” Vos said. “But you really do lose the empowerment that you get from the act of choosing what you want to feed yourself. And I think anything that feels disempowering ultimately can hinder our healing.”
But Vos is grateful for the support of food banks, and plans to “make good and friendly use of the food banks” long-term. She also made a friend on Facebook that offered to support her with weekly groceries.
“I don't know how long this family has the resources to support me and my family. We're kind of just taking it week by week,” she said. “But, of course, as long as they're willing to be my buddy, I would love to continue to receive that support from them.”
Hear Stateside's conversation with Sara Vos:
