Locals Eric Lawhorn and Anthony Howard were among the volunteers at the Who’s Hungry? soup kitchen on Monday, Nov. 3, and doled out free meals of fried chicken, corn bread and more to all who came in with empty bellies. Lining the counter are pre-preared meals that Who’s Hungry? passes out to the Village community outreach specialists, who bring the food to the Bryan Center for the benefit of children in the after-school youth program. The soup kitchen, which operates every Monday and Wednesday evening out of MAZU, is among several organizations in Yellow Springs that have stepped up in recent weeks as federal food assistance programs have stalled. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Yellow Springs responds to SNAP stall
- Published: November 9, 2025
By Lauren “Chuck” Shows and Reilly Dixon
It’s been a tough couple of years for villagers Troy and Mason Lindsey.
Money is tighter than ever and it’s hard for the father and son to imagine what the future holds. They wonder how much longer they’ll be able to stay in their Hawthorne Place apartment and aren’t entirely sure how they’ll put food on the table next week.
That second possibility came into sharp relief recently when they, along with more than 40 million other Americans, learned their SNAP — the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — benefits were in jeopardy.
At press time this week, the federal government had reached its longest historical government shutdown as partisan Senate leaders continued to disagree over federal healthcare subsidies. With funding appropriations at a halt, 1.4 million Ohioans were put at risk of losing critical food access on Nov. 1, when SNAP benefits were set to renew for the month.
The Lindseys’ troubles really began last August when Troy, at 58, was told a foot infection had gone septic and required amputation. It was a traumatizing procedure, Troy told the News, with its consequences extending far beyond his body’s ongoing recovery.
When he was physically well enough to return to work earlier this year, Lindsey was told by his employer he wasn’t allowed to work with his needed mobility scooter. Following another workplace injury, he again became unemployed, and because of the conditions of his suspension from his job, has been forced into a daily grind of making calls, sending documentation and vying for unemployment benefits.
According to Lindsey, he’s been denied, denied and denied those benefits.
“It’s felt like we’ve never been able to catch a break,” he said.
The Lindseys have been forced to rely heavily on social services, crowdfunding platforms, SNAP and the generosity of their family, friends and community, Troy Lindsey said.
“It’s like a full-time job,” he said of the personal advocacy needed for day-to-day subsistence. “It’s not like I’m sitting on a couch all day. We’re really working to fix our situation.”
The Lindseys and nearly 15,000 other Greene County residents who rely on SNAP have been beset by a kind of whiplash in recent days: Last week, a federal judge ordered the government to fund SNAP, and by early this week, it was reported that partial SNAP payments would be made. Then, Tuesday, President Trump declared via social media that he would defy the judge’s order, and that SNAP benefits would not be paid until the shutdown ended. The same day, the White House walked back the President’s statement, saying that they would comply with the judge’s order, and make partial benefit payments.
In the meantime, it’s unclear when those partial SNAP benefits will be received by those who qualify, making it difficult for families like the Lindseys who rely on SNAP to know when and how they’ll eat this month. According to a press release from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services this week, the organization is still working to figure out benefit amounts and when they’ll be disbursed.
Food banks across the nation have been responding to the unprecedented need. In Ohio last week, an executive order from Gov. Mike DeWine was set to provide $25 million in food assistance, and ODJFS will issue $7 million to Ohio’s eight regional food banks.
In the kitchen at the Beloved Community Project meal on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, from left, were: Thaddene Triplett, Amanda Banaszak, Tony Novello and Kate Hamilton Carrigan. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
Here in the village, a web of food security initiatives has been active for years: The monthly Beloved Community Project community meal typically feeds 40 to 50 people, the News reported early this year. Last month, a volunteer for the twice-a-month YS Food Pantry said the all-volunteer effort routinely feeds 30 or more families. Over the last two months, the biweekly Who’s Hungry? soup kitchen has been reporting the number of people it serves in a weekly newsletter — an average of 60 people each open day.
Folks in need are often referred to these services — and others — by the Police Department and the YS Community Foundation. YSPD Community Outreach Specialists Florence Randolph and the recently hired Danny Steck told the News this week that they spend their days fielding walk-ins, phone calls, church referrals and word-of-mouth connections. Steck said the need for food security has always been here, but the federal shutdown, and the approaching holiday season, have pushed the community’s existing systems into high gear.
“It’s the time of year when there’s the highest need,” Steck said. “Even if SNAP benefits do come through, people already need a little bit extra this time of year.”
A lot of that “little bit extra” comes via Tom’s Market food vouchers, funded by donations through the YS Community Foundation, which also directs community donations toward the Beloved Community Project, the YS Food Pantry and, until the soup kitchen’s recent reorganization as a 501(c)(3), was the fiscal sponsor for Who’s Hungry?
YSCF Executive Director Jeannamarie Cox said the voucher system — created in 2020 during COVID — enables the YSCF’s Food Security and Wellbeing Fund to reimburse Tom’s Market for any redeemed vouchers, keeping people fed and food dollars within the village.
The Yellow Springs Community Food Pantry, previously housed in the basement of the Yellow Springs United Methodist Church, found in 2023 a new home at Central Chapel AME Church, 411 S. High St. Pictured in front of the new location’s stocked shelves, left to right: The Rev. DeBora Duckett, of Central Chapel AME Church; Pastor Latoya Warren, of Yellow Springs United Methodist Church; Yellow Springs Community Food Pantry Director Paula Hurwitz; and Food Pantry Treasurer Lisa Russell. (Photo by Lauren “Chuck” Shows)
“We don’t want our community hungry,” she said. “And using the Tom’s cards puts money back into our community.”
YSCF distributes about $1,600 worth of vouchers each month. Because only redeemed vouchers are billed, YSCF avoids putting money into aid that never reaches residents — a potential issue with standard gift-card models.
“What SNAP would normally cover is what we cover,” she said, noting that the vouchers also cover prepared meals from Tom’s deli, as well as personal items; like SNAP, the vouchers cannot be used on recreational items.
Tom’s Market owner Jeff Gray told the News that the use of the vouchers is “the best possible plan we have right now until things change at the federal level.”
As Gray noted, the foundation-supported program could benefit quite a few shoppers at Tom’s. He said that, on average, the store receives about $360 a day from SNAP electronic benefits transfer, or EBT, purchases.
Gray told the News that while the federal government’s temporary cessation of its food assistance programs was the latest assault on already suffering locally owned grocery stores across the country, Yellow Springs is not in jeopardy of losing Tom’s Market.
“It’s not at all as profitable as it once was, and sales are down for sure, but they’re not so far down that we can’t keep covering the costs of running this place,” Gray said.
He added: “We’re not going anywhere.”
The Tom’s Market vouchers move through multiple entry points — the police department, local public and private schools, the food pantry, the Senior Center, the community meal programs and Tom’s itself. Jeannamarie Cox said the goal is proximity, so that residents don’t have to hunt to find help.
“We’re trying to be nimble, and if somebody needs something, we’re trying to make it as easy for them to find and receive food as possible,” she said.
YSPD Community Outreach Specialists Florence Randolph and the recently hired Danny Steck. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
The YSPD’s community outreach specialists, too, are trying to meet people where they are. Police Chief Paige Burge said the YSCF is gearing up to host walk-in hours with the community outreach specialists, widening their reach.
“They can be a little bit more approachable out there, especially acknowledging the barrier of their existence in a police department and understanding that some folks might not want to come to the police department,” Burge said.
She added that, outside of walk-in hours at the YSCF’s headquarters, Steck and Randolph already aim to cover a lot of village ground daily.
“Most of the community doesn’t have to come to them — they’re going to the community,” Burge said. “They know a lot of the folks who need them, and they are out and about.”
Much of this work is purposely quiet, Randolph said, because there can be a reticence to broadcastingone’s need — particularly in a small town, where everyone knows everyone.
“So there are needs that are being met that are unspoken, because we try and let people have their dignity,” she said.
Jeff Gray said he welcomes shoppers of all economic backgrounds into his aisles, and believes his store to be a nonjudgemental space for hungry folks to get the food they need, regardless of class or needed assistance.
“There tends to be this gross stigma,” Gray said of SNAP recipients, “But not here, not in Yellow Springs. I don’t see that kind of judgment in this community. No one’s taking advantage of anything or utilizing a program they don’t really need. People are just trying to get their next meal.”
Troy Lindsey said that, despite the specter of judgment to which Gray referred that hangs over the need for aid — “Psychologically I’m the worst I’ve ever been. I’m on edge constantly and the depression is severe. There’s so much shame in asking for help,” he said — he’s grateful for the help that’s readily available in Yellow Springs.
“I don’t think I’d want to be poor anywhere else,” he said.
The YS Senior Center, Who’s Hungry? and the Xenia Area of Council of Aging have all been helpful in meeting his and his son’s immediate needs. Until the suspension of the SNAP program, Lindsey and his son would use their monthly allotment to get carb-heavy meals from Tom’s Market — the kinds of food to hold them over.
“In a sense, I feel cared for and taken care of here,” Lindsey said.
Last week, the Village community outreach specialists asked residents to “Pack the Cruiser” with shelf-stable foods in order to keep the YS Food Pantry stocked as it prepares to experience potentially higher numbers. Within days of the ask, donations poured into the food pantry bin at the Bryan Center.
“It’s never empty, but it’s never been as full as it was today,” Steck said.
Cox said the YSCF has seen a parallel surge, both in calls from people seeking help and from donors wanting to give. And though, when the Tom’s vouchers were first introduced, only about 40% of them were used, now nearly every voucher issued comes back redeemed.
The Yellow Springs Community Foundation crew in front of their Walnut Street office. From left: Project Manager Chloe Manor, Operations Director Brianna Ayers, Outreach Manager Melissa Heston, Financial Administrator Sara Miller Gray and Executive Director Jeannamarie Cox. The two pups are Lilly and Oakley. Not pictured is Donor Relations Manager Mychael Roberts. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
The YSCF has responded with what Cox called an “unprecedented grant,” as the nonprofit’s board recently voted to free up some previously restricted dollars to further fund the vouchers and other food security initiatives in town, in an effort to “match the community’s response,” which she said has been “extremely generous” thus far.
Nevertheless, Cox was realistic about the limitations of the recent grant — “We’re not going to be able to replace SNAP; we’re not at that level,” she said — and noted that continued community support will be paramount as the future of SNAP benefits remains uncertain.
“It’s going to take the community’s support [because] we don’t know what’s going to happen — it’s ever-changing,” she said. “Keeping us in chaos seems to be the name of the game.”
With that chaos in mind, Troy Lindsey offered a kind of cautionary tale for the tenuousness of the economic moment: Him today, you tomorrow.
“When I first came to Yellow Springs, I had a decent job where I was making a really good salary,” he said. “What they say about most Americans living one paycheck away from poverty is true. It just turned out that I was one injury away from poverty.”
He added: “I think now is the time to make coalitions, for people to set aside their stupid differences and to really unite for a mass cause.”
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