On a recent Wednesday morning at around 9:30 a.m., Matthew Young arrived at Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada’s Fourth Street location. He was exhausted after a long shift at work, and — along with around a dozen other people — he was there to collect a box of food. It was Young’s first time at this location, but he’s no stranger to food pantries.
“We're all trying to make a living. We all work, and even I work, but sometimes the food expense can be too much at times,” he said.
The St. Vincent’s Food Pantry is open between 8 and 10 a.m., Monday through Wednesday, and usually serves around 100 families per day. But people often continue to arrive even after it’s closed.
It was originally open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with an hour break for lunch. But beginning June 30, cuts to federal grant funding by the Trump Administration will reduce the nonprofit’s budget by around $1.5 million.
According to Chief Operating Officer Annie Allen, that amounts to 20%.
“We don't want to close any of our programs. We're trying to spread the cuts throughout all of our programs,” she said.
In addition to the food pantry, Catholic Charities operates eight different programs, ranging from the essentials closet, which provides new clothes and hygiene kits, to legal aid. It serves an average of around 40,000 people each month across its programs.
But the lost funding could trigger further reductions in hours, or higher fees for programs like legal services in order to avoid staffing cuts, Allen said.
To help offset the food pantry’s more limited schedule, the charity also added capacity to some other services.
For example, SNAP Outreach Specialist Katie Quarisa said they’ve expanded a mobile food aid program that provides food to rural communities.
“We've really come together as a team to make sure that our outreach sites are open longer. We're still trying to give as many people food as possible to anyone who needs it,” she said.
Back on Fourth Street, Young explained that he often works 12 hour shifts at the nearby Tesla Gigafactory.
“I'm always sleeping, because I work overnights. So if it was, like, they opened later, or they only were open from, like, four to something, I would miss it,” Young said.
Zack Greenburg also relies on the St. Vincent’s Food Pantry. He’s been a client there for years, but said a change in hours won’t affect him too much — as long as they keep the amount of food in the box the same.
“I was homeless for a while, so at a time there was just too much food for me. But right now, I'm able to take the food and be able to live off of it for a little while,” he said.
Greenburg was joined by his girlfriend, Lisa Tollison, who’s also a frequent shopper at the St. Vincent’s Thrift Store.
“When I donate, I always make sure I donate to the Catholic Charities, and then I purchase most of my clothes and stuff from the thrift stores as well,” she said.
That’s an example of what Chief Development Officer Jennifer Hills called the “symbiotic relationship” between Catholic Charities and its clients.
“We feel like all those people that are living in the margins are going to be hit even harder now. We just want to make sure that as the demand increases, that we don't have to decrease any staffing or services,” she said.
Hills added the nonprofit may increase operations at its thrift store, which generates roughly $5 million each year for other services.
With several other nonprofits facing cuts, Allen said they may see an increase of people on a wait list to receive services. But no matter what happens, she made one thing perfectly clear:
“We're not in danger of shutting down.”
