Blue Island advocate, Southland pantries help SNAP recipients

Arcelia Gonzales said since the start the federal Operation Midway Blitz immigration enforcement, she’s traded morning nature walks for town patrols and vacations for grocery runs to residents too afraid to leave home.

But now, she said, the loss of federal food benefits is hitting many of the same residents already avoiding public spaces out of fear of federal immigration enforcement. She said she and other advocates have teamed up with nonprofits, restaurants and grocery stores to expand food deliveries.

Gonzales said as a longtime resident of Blue Island who now lives in Chicago Heights, a lot of south suburban communities are especially vulnerable to both fears of reported federal officers and the loss of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, commonly known as SNAP