Saturday may see cutoffs in food and heating aid as federal shutdown strains safety net programs

Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee via social media A young visitor to a North Cambridge food pantry run by the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee in January 2024.

Thousands of families and individuals in Cambridge and Somerville face the possible loss of food stamps and help paying heat bills on Saturday unless the federal shutdown ends and Congress authorizes funding, state and local officials say. The Head Start program providing preschool education to 183 low-income children in both cities is also at risk of losing federal funding in December.

The food stamp program helps 6,700 households with very low income in Cambridge and 4,800 in Somerville buy groceries. There are about 16,000 people in those households.

Though the outlook seemed grim a week before federal funding