ROCHESTER, N.Y. — More than 100,000 people in Monroe County receive SNAP benefits and News10NBC Chief Investigative Reporter Berkeley Brean met with one of them to discuss her fears about the potential disruption to the program.
Marilyn “Tiny” Diaz receives $250 a month in SNAP benefits, which she supplements with food from her garden at the YWCA in downtown Rochester.
Berkeley Brean, News10NBC: “How did you get that nickname?”
Marilyn “Tiny” Diaz, SNAP recipient: “So, I was always the shortest one in the group.” (laughs)
“With this little garden I get tomatoes, Swiss chard,” Diaz said as she walked us through her gardens.
Berkeley Brean: “Have you thought about what you’re going to do without (SNAP)?”
Marilyn “Tiny” Diaz: “I’m very concerned because what am I going to do without it? Sometimes I have to pay for my medication. So what am I going to do? Not pay for my medication that I need to live?”
Outside the food pantry at Trillium Health on Monroe Avenue, there was a line before it opened. Tyleek Jackson was there with his grandmother.
“So I want to get my grandma and me enough food so we can be prepared for ourselves and be ready for everything,” Jackson said.
Dr. Mike Mendoza runs Trillium Health. The pantry, which used to be in a closet, opened a larger space earlier this year.
Berkeley Brean: “What do you numbers look like right now?”
Dr. Mike Mendoza, Trillium Health: “Ordinarily we can serve 1,100 people in a month. Obviously we’re in a different situation now and we’re looking at whether we need to change that model to accommodate more demand. And as you can see we are seeing a lot more demand. Unlike previous crisis’s we’ve had to endure, the end is not really in sight.”
Berkeley Brean: “I think a lot of people think – what are we doing here? What’s going on? So I wonder if you think that maybe by the deadline they’ll figure out a solution.”
Marilyn “Tiny” Diaz: “I’m praying that they do. But we don’t know.”
In Monroe County, nearly 15% of households, or around one in every seven people, receive SNAP benefits. Orleans County has a similar number at 14.4%. Wayne County has 11% and Yates has about the same at 10.7%.
Livingston County has 10% exactly, or one in every 10 people, while Ontario County has the fewest households on SNAP at 8%.
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