Articles Tagged: HACAP

Longtime HACAP employee Kim Guardado will fill the role as part of an ongoing shuffle of the nonprofit’s leadership team.

Iowans eligible for a federal utility assistance program are applying for assistance at higher rates this winter than last year, according to some distributors.

Service providers say delays in food assistance only highlighted larger issues of food access in Iowa and across the country.

Jane Drapeaux has worked at HACAP since 1999 and has been CEO since 2007. She’ll retired Dec. 31.

The move comes less than a week after the end of a government shutdown that delayed the distribution of SNAP funds.

Matt Majeski will replace outgoing CEO Jane Drapeaux on Jan. 1.

With the federal government shutdown stretching on, HACAP’s Chris Ackman says the LIHEAP program that helps thousands of Iowans pay winter heating bills could soon face funding delays if Washington gridlock continues.

The funds will come from the Witwer Trust Grant Program, a private trust that provides funding annually for nonprofits serving Linn County residents.

Cedar Rapids City Council members later this month will vote on whether to direct $25,000 to an area food bank.

As the shutdown disrupts food aid and open enrollment begins, Iowa Democrats Zach Wahls and Josh Turek urged Republicans to act on health care and hunger. Hinson’s campaign countered that Democrats are “using vulnerable Iowans as leverage” in the standoff.

Iowa anti-hunger advocates said rulings by two federal judges that order the Trump administration to fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program using contingency funds during the government shutdown offer some hope, but not immediate relief to the hundreds of thousands of Iowans who rely on the federal food aid program.

About 140 children and their families in Iowa will no longer have childcare beginning Monday as Community Action of Eastern Iowa is forced to halt its Head Start program because the ongoing federal government shutdown has delayed funding.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Plan benefits that help thousands of Iowans buy food each month will not be distributed Saturday if the federal government is still shut down. As the country prepares for the impact of that pause, Iowans are looking for ways to help people in need. Here’s what food banks said is the most helpful.

Gov. Kim Reynolds has ordered Iowa HHS to work with food banks as federal officials warn that SNAP benefits may not go out Nov. 1. Food pantries say they’re already seeing higher demand and they’re bracing for a surge if payments are disrupted.

The federal government shutdown hasn’t affected food aid yet, but Iowa’s contingency funding for WIC could run out if the standoff in Washington drags on.