United Way of King County is urging our partners and other King County residents to join us in urging members of Congress to support our neighbors in need by restoring funding for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program.

Last week, federal officials stopped funding the federal Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA), cutting critical support services, such as food, emergency shelter, rental assistance, and utility payment assistance.

That means King County will not receive $978,863 to serve local communities. As a result, people nationwide who have benefited from those crucial services could now experience hunger and homelessness.

FEMA says that officials ordered an indefinite pause on the distribution of Emergency Food and Shelter Program funding allocated in the last Congressional budget. The move defies a court order mandating that the funds be dispersed. Since 2020, $8,745,497 in EFSP funding has been administered in King County; the funding was provided to 29 organizations last year.

Also, the USDA has halted funding for the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, which provides funding to tribes and hunger relief organizations. Washington State currently has approximately $2.8 million in unspent LFPA funds.

“These disruptions in funding are a direct attack on programs that support basic needs,” said Amanda Sandoval, United Way of King County Director of Systems Change and Public Policy. “They disproportionately affect at-risk communities. Farmers, children, and your next-door neighbors deserve better.”

Join us in urging members of Congress to support our neighbors in need by restoring funding for the Emergency Food and Shelter Program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program. Please click the link here and urge your Congress members to restore critical funding.