BOSTON —

Looming SNAP funding cuts caused by the government shutdown are putting a Boston shelter on edge as staff worry about how to feed vulnerable families.

"I'm very concerned that we're going to have children that are hungry, we're going to have moms that are hungry," said Jennifer Hanlon Wigon, CEO of Women's Lunch Place.

Women's Lunch Place, a day shelter for women experiencing homelessness and poverty, serves about 2,300 guests every year — a number that has ticked up in recent years.

But cuts to SNAP benefits, which are slated to take effect on November 1, could drive demand at the shelter even higher, according to Hanlon Wigon.

"We're going to have communities that are driven to places like Women's Lunch Place because they simply can't meet that basic human need," she said.

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