Clark County families increasingly turn to school-based resource centers for food

Families are turning to school-based resource centers like never before in the wake of inflation, recent federal cuts and disruption in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food aid.

“We are seeing families that historically we have not seen seeking resources. A big part of that is that rent has continued to go up for families. Food prices have gone up for families. Gas has gone up for families,” said Catherine MacCallum-Ceballos, the Vancouver school district’s director of community schools. “Families have accessed the resource centers like they have never accessed it before.”

Although SNAP benefits have been restored, the lapse put families behind. Recent federal funding cuts also have affected other critical programs, including the McKinney-Vento Education of Homeless Children a