In the days and weeks following the government shutdown this fall, food assistance organizations in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River valleys braced for what they suspected was coming: the suspension of federal food assistance programs.
About 6,000 people in Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin counties rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, half of them are children. Due to the rising cost of living, many SNAP recipients were already facing food insecurity ahead of the government shutdown, and many food assistance organizations worried that a looming SNAP suspension would force families to go hungry.
To prepare, LIFT-UP, a hunger relief nonprofit serving communities from Aspen to Parachute, began overstocking shelves at its five pantry locations.
While pantries saw an uptick in visitors when SNAP benefits were suspended, their worst-case scenario never materialized, said Elyse Hottel, the organization’s interim executive director.
Instead, she called it a “steady increase” — similar to what LIFT-UP saw during the COVID-19 pandemic. When people realized they had access to food pantries, they continued to use these services after the crisis subsided.
“The thing that is noteworthy is [the demands] never go down,” said Hottel.
But she added that the SNAP crisis conveyed some important lessons.
“If we put out the cry for help, the community rallies around us,” Hottel said, noting the unprecedented number of food drives, donations and volunteer engagement that LIFT-UP received in the wake of the SNAP cutoff.
“The other big takeaway is that we really need to build up a war chest for these emergency situations so that we are prepared and we're not scrambling to meet that need at the last minute.”
Hottel said the SNAP crisis was likely just “a glimpse of what’s to come” as the Trump Administration’s sweeping cuts to the social safety net take effect in the coming year, including cuts to the SNAP program and health insurance subsidies.
Hottel said those changes will likely force many people to choose between buying food and covering other expenses.
But she said it’s a relief knowing that LIFT-UP can count on community support in times of need.
Transition to come
In the new year, Hottel will depart LIFT-UP where she has served as interim executive director on a contract basis for the past year.
In her place, New Castle resident Samantha Freese will step into the role of LIFT-UP executive director.
After leading the organization through a tumultuous year, marked by the SNAP crisis and other financial challenges, Hottel said she feels LIFT-UP is in a much better position compared to when she started.
“I had to rework the whole budget when I came on, and I don't think we actually got it approved until March,” she said.
Hottel oversaw the sale of the organization’s two buildings in Rifle and Parachute, which previously housed its thrift stores – a move that allowed LIFT-UP to focus more squarely on its hunger relief efforts.
“It just felt like everything kind of came together at once — that it was the right time for the new person to step in and for me to conclude my work for them.”
Hottel hopes to return to other issues she cares about, including affordable housing and environmental policy — her “first love,” she said — ideally with a regional focus.
“I think that was one of the things that I have enjoyed about working for LIFT-UP is that they are a regional solution to the problem,” she said. “They're not a one-off food bank working in isolation.”
But first, she’s excited about an upcoming trip to Disneyland — her first real vacation in over a year.
