Local social services hotline 211 reports a 40% increase in calls from people asking for food assistance since early 2023.It’s an issue nonprofits and food pantry officials said has gotten worse since March of that year, when a pandemic boost to the federal government’s supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) ended.Outside Greater Mount Sinai Church in Milwaukee’s Hampton Heights neighborhood, Denise Holmes helps run a food pantry for neighbors in need.”If we don’t help them, where do they go?” Holmes said. Mertis Wilder, a senior on a fixed income, is one of the people coming to Holmes’s food pantry. Wilder said during the pandemic she got around $160 per month in government assistance for food. Now, she said she gets $54 per month. “The way food is in the stores now, you can’t afford to buy with what we get. And especially on a fixed income you just…you can’t do it,” Wilder said.During the pandemic, Congress increased how much people received in SNAP benefits. Beneficiaries were getting an extra $95 or more per month for groceries. But in March 2023 that pandemic boost ended.Because of that change, officials at the area’s social services hotline, Impact 211, said more people are calling and asking for help paying for food.”Its an every day crisis for many families in our community,” said John Hyatt, president and CEO of Impact 211.According to Hyatt, the reduction, paired with lingering inflation, makes it hard for some people to afford to eat.”When that funding decreased back in March of 2023…our calls have continued to rise and have gone up 40% since then, and are now exceeding even pre-pandemic levels,” Hyatt said.Hyatt said officials with Impact 211 are asking the state and federal government for more money in food assistance programs.They are also encouraging the community to donate to local food pantries. More information on 211 and Southeast Wisconsin’s food pantries can be found here.