The end of pandemic-era benefits, which provided nearly $30,000 on average to many low-income D.C. families from 2020 to 2022, has left some facing food and housing insecurity. According to a new report from the United Planning Organization (UPO), many families are now struggling to meet rent and other expenses after a period of relative stability.
“The pandemic provided an unprecedented level of economic security for a lot of people and then it just disappeared overnight,” Ed Lazere, UPO’s legislative advocacy director, said.
For three years, a typical low-income single-parent family with two children received four main federal benefits totaling almost $10,000 a year: three economic stimulus payments between 2020 and 2021, an expanded Child Tax Credit that offered enhanced monthly payments in 2021 and 2022, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) increased monthly allotments in 2020 to 2022 and two rounds of federal Emergency Rental Assistance, via the Stay DC program, to assist with rent in 2021 and 2022. While support dropped off in 2023, families still received an extra $400, according to the report, thanks to some continued higher SNAP benefits.
As federal programs have waned, the city has seen rising rates of people experiencing homelessness, being evicted, and seeking out food assistance. Additionally, the District has cut housing and rental assistance programs over the last two years, meaning there are fewer local resources to make up the difference.
Despite high demand for the program’s services, the 2025 D.C. budget cut the local Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) by over $13 million. On Oct. 1, the same day the program was scheduled to reopen for new applications, the D.C. Council passed emergency legislation that further cut back on pandemic-era tenant protections.
These changes mean tenants are no longer automatically protected from eviction when applying for ERAP and have to provide additional proof of their eligibility, including income and the nature of the emergency situation that qualifies them for the program.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a Sept. 30 press briefing that the program hurts affordable housing providers, who she said report $100 million in unpaid rent. In September, the affordable housing developer Neighborhood Development Corporation closed after 25 years, contributing to the urgency of the market’s difficult situation. But advocates say the new policy will only make evictions easier and lead to further displacement in D.C.
“The huge problem is that people don’t have money to pay rising rents and rising food prices and if we don’t address that, changing how people qualify for ERAP isn’t going to get landlords any more money in their pockets,” Lazere said.
Applications for ERAP did not open in October as scheduled and a new opening date has not been publicly announced. The program will no longer open quarterly, as it did in 2024. Once the portal reopens, it will remain up until funds for the 2025 fiscal year run out. Before the 2023-2024 cycle, when the program ran in this form with significantly more funding, there was usually no more money by the middle of the year.
Housing isn’t the only area nearing a crisis. Over 250,000 D.C. residents — 38% of the city’s population — are facing food insecurity, up from 35% in 2023, and from almost 12% in 2020. Many nonprofits that provide food assistance have reported a surge in demand and a lack of resources to keep up.
D.C. Central Kitchen’s Chief Development Officer Alexander Moore said the increased emergency SNAP allotments allowed people to afford healthy food in small community corner stores. But with the end of those benefits, the choice to eat well, have agency on what products to buy, and support local businesses has greatly diminished.
“So what we are facing is, I think, a really significant potential perfect storm that impacts food security, It impacts wellness, it impacts public health. All at a time when we now have a pretty good evidence base for what works, and we’re making choices to do the opposite frankly,” Moore said.
Deschawn Cromartie, 56, is one of the D.C. residents severely impacted by the pandemic.
Without programs like UPO’s food package distribution, she said would not be able to afford food and feed her family.
“I get only $33 dollars for SNAP. And $33 doesn’t carry you a long way in the grocery store,” Cromartie said. “Can I live off of that for the whole month? No.”
Cromartie is diabetic and said UPO’s food program was a lifeline during the pandemic and still is, allowing her to access fresh food and vegetables, meat, and other nutritious items for a better diet.
“Lord have mercy and behold, do you know my grandkids were so fond and proud to see so much vegetables,” Cromartie said. The grandmother, who recently lost a son and suffered a stroke shortly after, says UPO was critical in helping her get back on her feet.
“I’ve been gaining my weight back. I’ve been doing things that were out of the ordinary. My grandbabies come, and they’re just like, Grandma, what’s on the menu?”
While the end of emergency allotments “absolutely cratered the sales” of healthy foods and vegetables, Moore said that the 2024 Give SNAP a Raise policy had a significant impact in restoring some of the pandemic-era resources. The program, which increased SNAP benefits by 10%, ended in September and is not included in the 2025 D.C. budget.
“It’s really important, I think here in D.C. and across the country, we flip this idea of funding food as being a social program. It’s not. It is one of the most cost-effective investments we can make in public health, in educational achievement, in closing economic disparities and the racial wealth gap,” Moore said.
Both Lazere and Moore asked D.C. policymakers to think about these as economic issues rather than social assistance.
“It’s better for the whole city, including for the landlords who worry about rents being paid and the grocery stores that are worried about shoplifting. Everybody’s better off if we pay attention to the economic security of the people with the lowest incomes in D.C.,” Lazere said.
