YAWKEY— For more than two years, Helen Swire Comer put her own life on hold.
The Lincoln County resident quit her job managing a bank to care for her aging parents, who wanted to spend their final years at home instead of in a nursing facility.
Her nights were often interrupted by emergency room visits and checking on her parents, leaving her exhausted after they died five months apart last year.
Then, just as she was trying to rebuild her life, she lost most of the food assistance that had helped her get by.
Her monthly Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, also known as food stamps, dropped from about $400 to $24 after state officials told her she needed to meet new work requirements to continue receiving benefits.
“There was no way I could have worked. Absolutely no way,” Comer said.
Helen Swire Comer quit her job managing a bank to care of her aging parents in Lincoln County. She soon lost her food stamp benefits, which dropped from $400 a month to $24 a month. Courtesy Photo.
With no income and unaware she qualified for a medical exemption, Comer said she began selling her household belongings and living on her credit card just to keep food on the table.
And she wasn't alone.
Across West Virginia, food banks say they're serving more families as thousands of people lose food stamps under new federal rules. Many are forced to turn to charities that were never designed to replace the nation's largest anti-hunger program.
Since Gov. Patrick Morrisey took office, the number of households receiving food stamps has fallen by nearly 9,000, according to state data.
Anti-hunger advocates say much of that decline stems from Republican-backed changes to food stamp rules that expanded the requirements for who must report work activity and narrowed exemptions.
Under the new rules, more adults are required to document they are working, looking for work or participating in approved activities to keep receiving food assistance.
While exemptions remain for people with certain medical conditions and caregiving responsibilities, advocates say many recipients either don't realize they qualify or struggle to navigate the paperwork needed to prove it.
Cyndi Kirkhart, CEO of Facing Hunger Foodbank, said food pantries across southern West Virginia are seeing the consequences.
Since late last year, food pantries have served more families while receiving less food from the federal government and inflation has only made matters worse, she said.
“There is no way that we can offset the absence of SNAP benefits," she said.
Food banks can help families bridge temporary gaps, she said, but they were never designed to replace a federal nutrition program that serves thousands of West Virginians every month.
Food stamps are the main source of meals for people experiencing poverty. The program provides nine meals for every one meal from a food pantry.
And just as more families are turning to food pantries, state funding for those organizations has fallen sharply. During the Justice administration, food banks received $10 million per year through a fund former Gov. Jim Justice established in 2023.
But the state allotted only $1.4 million for them in this year's state budget.
Gov. Morrisey’s office did not respond to questions about why the funding was reduced or if it would be increased in the future.
In Lincoln County, Ryan Elkins is seeing that play out firsthand in West Hamlin. As founder of Lincoln County Community Outreach, the growing need is showing up in the increased number of phone calls he receives.
People tell him they haven't eaten in days. Others tell him they don’t have a ride to a grocery store or have a disability that prevents them from getting out of the house.
“We're trying to fill the gaps with these services that are continuously being cut," he said. "We deliver food for people. We provide outreach services, hygiene products. Everything we do is free."
One of the organization’s biggest jobs isn't buying food, but it’s delivering it. Volunteers pick up pantry boxes and deliver them to older residents and people with disabilities who don't have transportation.
This year, Elkins said the nonprofit has taken on about 20% more clients in the past seven months than it served over the previous five years combined.
Shirley Justice opened the Healing Heart Food Pantry in Sod in 2019 at the McCorkle Free Will Baptist Church. On a busy day, the pantry serves over 150 families with items including frozen meats, bread and canned vegetables.
Over in Sod, at Healing Heart Food Pantry, operator Shirley Justice said the faces coming through the door aren’t the ones she often associated with hunger.
Some visitors are older adults raising grandchildren. Others are working full-time but can’t make ends meet, or they turn to the pantry when they have an unexpected bill that month.
“Food stamps don’t last forever through the month,” Justice said.
Demand often grows near the end of the month, when benefits and paychecks have run low. On busy distribution days, Healing Heart serves as many as 150 families.
The pantry also responds to emergencies around the clock, providing food to families who have run out and to people living in their cars.
Justice said the pantry depends almost entirely on grants and occasional donations. That leaves volunteers trying to anticipate needs without knowing how much money or food will be available from month to month.
Shirley Justice opens a refrigerator at the pantry where she stores hotdogs for families who need easy to cook foods.
In the neighboring town of Harts, funding shortages have already forced another pantry to cut back.
The Big Ugly Community Center previously operated its food pantry every day but after its funding ran out, it reduced regular distributions to just once a month.
Staff still provide emergency food and occasionally open for pop-up distributions when fresh produce or other items become available.
During one recent pop-up, announced on Facebook the night before, 109 people came for food.
Tami Boling, the center’s director, said its shelves are now almost empty. The center tries to keep enough food in reserve to respond when a family calls in an emergency.
“When I get funding, I try to order in bulk,” she said, “So that way we have enough of something to keep somebody from starving.”
The Big Ugly Community Center near the town Harts offers after-school care and summer programs for kids in Lincoln County.
The center also serves meals to children through its summer and after-school programs. About 65 children are enrolled, with between 30 and 45 typically attending each day. When the pantry receives extra food, staff pack bags for children to take home to their families.
But with other Lincoln County pantries also reducing their hours, Boling said dependable funding would allow the center to open more frequently and respond to needs before they become emergencies.
The growing pressure on food pantries comes as the federal spending law, supported by West Virginia’s congressional delegation, further reduces food stamp assistance or shifts its costs to West Virginia.
In addition to expanding work requirements, the newly enacted law will also require states with high SNAP payment error rates to begin paying part of the cost of benefits.
The Big Ugly Community Center has a community garden where fresh vegetables like tomatoes and potatoes are grown and given to families in need.
West Virginia’s error rate was about 6.7%, above the congressional threshold of 6%. That means the state is expected to provide a 5% match that had previously been covered entirely by the federal government.
Del. Jeff Eldridge, R-Lincoln, said he would support appropriating state money to cover the additional cost, though he said he would want to review the proposal before voting on it.
He also said lawmakers should continue supporting food banks as demand grows.
"We could definitely make sure that’s happening and work hand in hand with the organizations," he said.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito's office declined to comment for this story. Rep. Carol Miller's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
While lawmakers debate the future of the program, Comer is still living with the consequences.
Comer started receiving Social Security after taking early retirement in December. She still grows vegetables, raises chickens and continues to sell her belongings when she needs extra money.
But she knows many West Virginians don't have those options.
"The average person, I don't think, would have all of these resources that I had," she said. "This is why I'm speaking out. I've never been so low in my life."