City Funding, Nonprofit Partnership Helped Keep 172 Residents on SNAP, MassHealth

Cambridge helped 172 residents stay enrolled in food and health benefit programs last month, working with more than 30 organizations after the city allocated $500,000 in stopgap funding as part of its ongoing response to federal cuts.

The city, Cambridge Community Foundation, and Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee coordinated in September to launch a funded effort to train service providers, assist with applications for state and federal assistance, and host public information events aimed at keeping residents enrolled in programs. The city has hosted 14 outreach events and led six provider trainings so far.

In October, the initiative helped 104 residents navigate health insurance, 66 with federal food assistance, and two with both, according to a Monday report from City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05.

A second wave of outreach will begin in January when additional changes to MassHealth eligibility requirements take effect, the report said. The city has estimated that nearly 2,400 Cambridge residents are at risk of losing MassHealth coverage due to the combined effect of tightened work requirements and narrowed eligibility for immigrants.

Though MassHealth began dropping refugees and asylum recipients from its rolls in October, it will implement further requirements in January, mandating that individuals between 19 and 64 years old work 80 hours a month and renewal applications every six months instead of annually.

The MassHealth changes will be the latest burden on Cambridge residents, many of whom had already been hit hard by stricter Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program requirements that took effect last summer as a result of sweeping federal legislation.

Between July 2025 and June 2026, SNAP enrollment fell by 15 percent, cutting off benefits for nearly 800 households and costing Cambridge’s economy nearly $3 million a year in federal food aid. The City estimates roughly 7,000 more residents are eligible for SNAP but not enrolled.

The city first responded in November 2025 with a $500,000 allocation for emergency gift cards and additional food pantry funding. It then earmarked a second $500,000 for outreach efforts this September.

Huang wrote in his Monday report to the City Council that residents often lose access to benefit programs for bureaucratic rather than legal reasons.

Huang argued paperwork and access to state administrators were the “main barrier,” citing an estimate from the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute that 80 to 90 percent of people subject to SNAP work requirements are eligible for exemptions. The institute estimates that 70 percent of SNAP denials are for procedural reasons and that 77 percent of calls to the state’s Department of Transitional Assistance disconnect before a caseworker answers.

“This is the gap that hands-on application assistance can close, and it is where the City and its partners are focusing its efforts,” Huang wrote.

The City Council voted unanimously to send Huang’s findings to its Human Services and Veterans Committee for review, punting further deliberation until next year.

City Councilor Ayah A. Al-Zubi ’23 introduced the referral motion, saying she wanted to take a closer look at how the city is tackling food insecurity.

“I’m going to be diving more into food access work in the city because it’s a fundamental human need,” she said. “There will be a committee hearing soon, most likely in earlier 2027.”

—Staff writer Risha Sinha can be reached at [email protected].