To build community, don’t follow our leaders

Days before members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to reopen the government this week, many Georgia residents who receive SNAP benefits saw some relief in the form of partial payments.

Though some recipients said they had trouble accessing the funds, there was at least a feeling that help was on the way.

We have experienced the most significant government shutdown in history and if you didn’t know it before, you should now realize that compromising the well-being of the American people is a viable political strategy.

Before you keyboard warriors dash off an expletive-filled email accusing me of supporting Democrats, Republicans, Communists or whoever you think I am stanning for, stop and consider this: No matter which political party you believe was at fault for this, or past, government shutdowns, the above statement still stands.

During the shutdown, everyday American people showed more creativity and empathy than any member of any party in any branch of government.

Sometimes following the leader isn’t the way. Sometimes you just follow your own mind and heart.

I saw examples of this time and again over the past week when some of the most vulnerable people across the state lost supplemental nutrition benefits. Atlanta residents used their creativity and generosity to help in any way they could.

Ian Sager and his wife just moved to metro Atlanta a few months ago from Louisiana. They wanted to spruce up their property and encourage community by installing a Little Library in the front yard of their Toney Valley home.

Ian Sager and his wife recently installed a Little Library in the front yard of their Toney Valley home. When SNAP benefits were cut, they decided to fill it with food. (Photo provided by Ian Sager)

When SNAP benefits were cut just a day after they finished building the library, Sager, who had yet to fill the structure with books, decided instead to fill it with food.

“I thought a few people in the neighborhood would see it,” he said. But it turned out that more than a thousand people saw his post on a neighborhood app and many of them stopped by for a visit.

As partial Georgia SNAP benefits began rolling out, Sager said he noticed more people donating food than removing it. “People have been more than generous,” he said. If the donations become overwhelming he will take any excess to the local food bank, he said.

On Wednesday, when we talked, he wasn’t entirely supportive of the pending deal to end the shutdown but he was thankful that there was a path forward. “I don’t think we ever should have been put in a position to lose SNAP benefits,” he said.

For Brittany Bullock, that sentiment is personal. Bullock was raised by her father, who was disabled. For a period, they relied on food stamps to help them with basic needs.

“I know what it is like to be on the other side, and I am blessed to not be in that position now,” she said. “Seeing a lot of the things that people say online about people who need SNAP benefits has been hurtful.”

She bristled when people criticized a mom who used SNAP benefits to buy ingredients to make cupcakes for her son’s birthday. She worries about the move toward food restriction waivers that feel more judgmental than caring.

Though she has always cooked meals for the unhoused, volunteered with food banks and donated to local missions, the government shutdown was the first time Bullock developed her own version of creatively assembled meal kits.

Using shelf-stable ingredients, she designed full kits to make the kind of meals she cooks for herself, such as chicken Marsala, fettuccine Alfredo, veggie tacos or chicken with dressing. She included recipe cards in each kit with instructions on how to make the dish.

“People still deserve good things, and they still deserve dignity in their meals,” said Bullock, who noted that she planned the meals to include protein, fiber, healthy fats and carbs.

She then set up a makeshift farmers market in front of her Westside home, adding vegetables and fresh juices to the mix, and invited anyone to take whatever they desired.

Bullock’s emphasis on dignity is important because joy is part of life’s journey even when life is a struggle.

I thought of this when I saw a Georgia hairstylist offering a $50 discount on styling services for any client who showed an EBT card. For someone who needs to feel put together at a time when it feels as if life is falling apart, a discount on hairstyling could be transformative.