The worst case scenario is where the real suffering takes place.

“The worst case scenario is forcing organizations to have conversations about reducing staff and consider reducing services because of the lack of funding,” Vásquez said. “And of course, that is a very difficult and heart-breaking conversation to have because as we know, the safety net that we have is not everything that is needed. It already is being taxed and places us in a very difficult position of having to figure out how we can continue to provide services as much as possible without incurring a lot of debt and not having the funds to be able to provide the services. That’s a very difficult place.”

For some marginalized people, it might not be one particular cut that sets them back. It’s the cumulative impact of many cuts, death by a thousand cuts. One of the roles that Mya Whitson plays in the community is to connect with consumers and do surveys with them about their history with food, past and present, what that looks like for them in the Dane County area for the Dane County Food Action Plan. She has been seeing marginalized people making choices that may cost them in the long run. But they have no choice.

“There are quite a lot of people who are experiencing food insecurities,” Whitson said. “One of the downsides of people using outside food banks is a majority of the people who are in need are in the greater Madison area, in the city proper and it is hard for them to get to places like Sun Prairie and Middleton to access the food banks. We’ve seen a lot of people doing car pooling. We had one family that would catch a bus to West Towne Mall and then take an Uber to the food pantry in Middleton because that was the only way for them to get there. It is an added expense, but it costs a lot more to go to the grocery store and not be able to get things. We have a lot of families as well who because of their income don’t qualify for FoodShare or very little FoodShare even though they have large families.”

Just the discussion of federal cuts is taking its toll on marginalized families.

“It’s disheartening a little bit because you are seeing that the most vulnerable of our citizens are the ones being affected by it the most,” Whitson said. “And even if the budget cuts don’t go into effect, just the idea of people not being able to provide for their children takes a real toll on people’s mental health and their stress levels. A lot of public school food comes from federal grants. And they are being told there is a possibility that students won’t be receiving free or reduced lunch anymore. You have to consider, ‘How are my children going to eat?’ And there are a lot of families where the meals at school are their major meals that they get each day.”

During the federal shutdown, Head Start was suspended in many communities.

“It is very, very difficult to find affordable childcare,” Whitson said. “Head Start really helps out a lot of families that have younger ones and they still need to work. If you consider that most day cares charge $800 or more a week, the person almost needs to take on another job just to be able to afford that so that they can work and their child will be in a safe environment.”

Even if vulnerable families are able to hang in there for the moment, what happens when an unexpected expense occurs?

“People are robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Whitson said. “Housing is also a concern because you now have to worry that if you are taking extra money to provide food, what happens if some big expense comes up like your car breaks down. Do you not pay rent so that you have a car to get to work? What decision are you going to make? A lot of hard decisions are being made just by taking one benefit away from people. And people are close to the edge already.”

And the stress could impact people’s long-term health prospects, creating a future stress on federal and state budgets.

“I think people underestimate just how serious of an impact it is on your mental health and how people are able to function and maintain and get to work in order to make money when they have all of these other things weighing on them,” Whitson said. “How are my children going to eat? Where are my children going to sleep? How am I going to get gas money to get to this job. A job that isn’t paying much to begin with?’ It’s taking a very heavy toll on our cities. At this point, it seems like almost no one is happy. I rarely see people smiling anymore and just happy about things because there are so many worries on their minds on a day-to-day basis.”

And with the federal cuts, there are front-line workers who are at risk of joining the ranks of the vulnerable.

“What our program participant are facing, many of our staff members are also facing,” Vásquez said. “And I think that is so key to understanding that. So many of us are currently living paycheck to paycheck. I also want to say that I think that we do see the strength of lived experience when we are talking about the way that services are provided and what shape that is. I think we talk a lot about how important lived experience is. At the same time, I think that there needs to be more of an understanding that staff members across all nonprofits, in many cases, are showing the lived experiences, the same problems as participants. In too many cases, that means the salaries that we are able to provide are not matching the cost of living.  The cost of living is rising and sometimes we are having conversations about if we are supporting the people doing the work, we need to make sure that they have salaries that help them navigate the real cost of living and also have a path for their lives to become their best version as well.”

Whitson talked about how she is glad to live in a community like Madison/Dane County that really cares about its vulnerable citizens and step up to the plates when the need arises.

“There are a lot of great organizations that are really pulling out all of the stops to make sure that families are getting at least some of what they need,” Whitson said. “I know that The River Pantry has a lunch mobile and go through different areas. They also bag lunches for family members who are present at the time. That helps people get by. The River Food Pantry also offers delivery of groceries for people who don’t have transportation or the elderly. Schools are helping people sign up for Toys for Tots and the Empty Stocking Club to make sure that kids are able to have Christmas presents. The Goodman Community Center is doing amazing things. They gave out so many Thanksgiving baskets to families this year as well as Vera Court. Families are getting a little bit of the load taken off of them.”

But eventually, federal budget cuts may also impact the quality of life and the kind of life that we enjoy in Madison/Dane County.

“What ends up happening is that we realize that it doesn’t only impact our most marginalized community members,” Vásquez said. “It really impacts all of us. I do think that when we think of Madison, we want to think of a community that is caring, that is a community that supports us to live our best lives. And when we are seeing the safety net that supports our most marginalized community in that goal and that path shredding, then that is affecting all of us because it is also impacting the way that we relate with each other and the way that we are interconnected with each other. It’s not that we are in our best version. One path is a place where everyone has what people consider human rights: food, health and other things. There is a difference on being on the path to that versus starting to divest from the safety net that makes that path impossible.”

Federal cuts make non-profits like the YWCA Madison to make difficult decisions so that they will remain on the path to their better selves.