Alabama clergy lead protest to secure SNAP benefits

A small group of Alabama clergy gathered in front of the federal courthouse in Montgomery Monday to protest the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and to call on Alabama U.S. Sens. Katie Britt and Tommy Tuberville to restore funding cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. Over 1 million Alabamians were enrolled in Medicaid in 2022, mostly children, the elderly and those with disabilities. 

The protest, part of Repairers of the Breach “Moral Mondays” movement, was organized by clergy and pastors from across the South, and led by Rev. Carolyn Foster of Greater Birmingham Ministries. Foster said the group has tried to schedule meetings with Tuberville and Britt for weeks to discuss policy and to pray with the senators.

“Policy violence is a political decision, a legislative neglect when you vote to hurt your own people,” Foster said. 

Messages seeking comment from Britt and Tuberville’s Montgomery and D.C. offices were left Monday afternoon. The Alabama Department of Human Resources says approximately 726,000 Alabamians receive SNAP, which provides funds for low-income households to purchase food. 

The group held a similar protest in September ahead of the federal government shutdown, which lasted 43 days. Pamela Payne-Foster, another organizer and preventative care physician in western Alabama, said that even though the shutdown is over, the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) benefits are still at risk.

“We know that the government is back in session, but the SNAP benefits are still at risk for our people in our state and are taking food out of the mouths of hungry people,” Payne-Foster said. “It’s a shame.”

 The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that 137,000 Alabamians will lose SNAP benefits due to the work requirements added by OBBBA. It requires able-bodied adults without dependents to work 80 hours per month to qualify for food assistance. 

Foster said that, like many churches, Greater Birmingham Ministries has a food assistance program. But, she said, it’s not enough. Michelle Hodges, direct services coordinator at the ministry, said it had to turn away about 70 people at the Oct. 28 distribution, before SNAP benefits were suspended earlier this month. 

“This is uncalled for in a country that is the richest country in the world,” Foster said.