As demand surges, Mecklenburg food stamp delays raise risk that more will go hungry

Every week, Kenya Joseph says she hears from Mecklenburg County residents whose food stamp benefits have been delayed.

“They’ve submitted an application,” says Joseph, who founded the Hearts and Hands food pantry with her mother. “They’re waiting, waiting, waiting.”

Joseph said she also hears from parents with a desperate refrain: “How can we feed our children?”

At a time of soaring need for food assistance among those who are struggling financially, Mecklenburg County has been failing to process many food stamp applications in a timely manner, a Charlotte Observer review has found.

For the week ending March 17, the county approved just 58% of food stamp applications within the federally required time frames — 25 days for most applicants or four days for those eligible for expedited benefits. Mecklenburg’s performance that week lagged behind all but four other N.C. counties. Wake County, the state’s largest, approved 73% of food stamp applications within the required time frames that week.

On average, N.C. counties are approving more than 80% of applications on time, data compiled by the state Department of Health and Human Services shows.

In 2022, 94 percent of food stamp applications in North Carolina were processed in a timely fashion, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture figures. That was a better performance than all but seven other states.

This isn’t a new problem for Mecklenburg County. A 2022 story in The Charlotte Observer showed that Mecklenburg had the worst record among North Carolina social service departments for processing new food stamp applications and recertifications on time.

After improving in early 2023, Mecklenburg’s “on-time” performance has again slowed over the past year, the state data shows.

Mecklenburg County officials did not make themselves available for an interview.

But in a statement to the Observer, Mecklenburg’s Department of Community Resources said the number of local applications for Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) assistance — commonly known as food stamps — increased 59% from 2019 to 2023.

“The ending of the public health emergency waivers (provided to streamline case processing and expedite benefits during the pandemic) along with the historically high number of applications present a formidable challenge in ensuring the timely processing of cases,” the statement said.

In July 2023, Mecklenburg County added 31 staff members to its food and nutrition program, “but it takes approximately nine months for new FNS staff to get up to speed,” the county’s statement said.

The county said it also offers overtime and uses temporary staff, supervisors, and trainers to process applications.

“I think they’re doing a lot of things to get to a better place,” said county commissioner Pat Cotham. “I applaud that.”

Still, Cotham said, it’s clear more needs to be done.

“I don’t think anybody should be happy with those numbers,” she said.

A growing need for food

The delays come at a time when demand for food assistance is surging. In Mecklenburg, applications for food stamps rose 70% from 2021 to 2023.

Tina Postel, CEO of Nourish Up, formerly known as Loaves and Fishes, likes to talk about stadiums when she wants to illustrate Charlotte’s need for donated food.

In 2021, her organization fed 77,000 people — enough to fill the Panthers’ stadium, she said. In 2022, they fed 106,000 people, a crowd that would more than fill the Panthers’ stadium, Spectrum Center and Bojangles Coliseum. And in 2023, they fed 137,000 people — enough to fill all of those venues plus Truist Field and PNC Music Pavilion.

“I’m running out of arenas that demonstrate how many people we are feeding,” Postel said.

At the Angels and Sparrows food pantry in Huntersville, the number of meals served more than doubled from 2019 to 2023 — from about 123,000 in 2019 to more than 267,000 last year, according to organization CEO Jessika Tucker.

Some who come to the pantry, Tucker said, are like a woman she recently met: After paying rent, the mother of four has just $300 of income left each month to support her family.

Hearts and Hands is also feeding record numbers of people, Joseph said. Their food pantry, which last year relocated from Huntersville to west Charlotte, served about 6,000 people in 2022, and 8,200 last year. Joseph expects they may serve as many as 15,000 people this year.

“I’ve got to tell you, it’s scary right now,” said Joseph, who chairs the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Food Policy Council. “...This is a crisis.”

Why are so many so hungry?

A key factor driving the demand for food assistance: Wages haven’t kept pace with the rising costs of housing, food and other essentials, leaders of food pantries and food banks say.

Meanwhile, the financial assistance that many relied on during the pandemic has expired. As a result, Postel said, “we are seeing this additional tidal wave of need.”

Postel said Nourish Up’s grocery program served 13,500 people in February 2024, compared to 9,800 in February 2023 and 7,500 the same month in 2022.

The delays in the processing of food stamp applications have only made things worse, Postel said.

“I think that’s definitely contributed to our record high numbers in January and February,” she said.

“When you are dependent on these benefits and for whatever reason the benefits aren’t timely, it puts people in a position of not knowing how they’re going to feed their families,” said Kay Carter, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina.

Cotham, who has served as a county commissioner since 2012 and recently lost her reelection bid, said she regularly sees people in need of food. Just recently, she said, she spoke with a woman in her 80s who told her that she had not eaten in two days.

“We need to turn the alarm on,” Cotham said. “We’ve got a problem.”

Staff Database Reporter Gavin Off contributed.

Need food? Want to help?

Here are some resources for people who need food assistance, or are looking to volunteer time, money or grocery items to an area food pantry.

• To apply for benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), call 704-336-3000 or search online for the words: apply food stamps NC

• To learn how to get free groceries or meals through Nourish Up, formerly Loaves and Fishes, visit nourishup.org or call 704-523-4333. You can also find information about how to volunteer at Nourish Up or donate funds or food through the website.

• To learn about emergency food service available through Hearts and Hands, visit heartsandhandsfoodpantry.com The website also has information about how to volunteer or donate food or money. (Their food pantry moved last year from Huntersville to 4040 Chesapeake Drive in west Charlotte.)

• To get a free meal through Angels and Sparrows, or pick up food at their pantry, visit their Huntersville location - 15016 N. Old Statesville Rd. - from 11 am to 1 pm Monday through Friday. You can also learn about how to donate or volunteer there by visiting angelsandsparrows.org or calling 704-918-0122

• For a full list of Charlotte pantries and soup kitchens, search online for the words: Charlotte pantry list

Mecklenburg’s food stamp delay is the worst in NC. Residents have waited months for help.

NC Reality Check reflects the Charlotte Observer’s commitment to holding those in power to account, shining a light on public issues that affect our local readers and illuminating the stories that sets the Charlotte region apart. Email realitycheck@charlotteobserver.com