Connection Over Confusion: How Navigators Help Clients Maintain Their SNAP Benefits in the Fallout of H.R. 1
October 6, 2026
Article for Farm to Table by Jill Dixon, Executive Director & Catherine Nolte, Advocacy and Policy Specialist, The Food Depot
Food insecurity is a destabilizing experience on its own. When paperwork, changing eligibility requirements, and not knowing where to turn for help stand between a family and their ability to eat, the situation becomes overwhelming.
The federal government should be supporting families in crisis, not making it harder to meet their basic needs.
Changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from H.R. 1 have not made benefits easier to access. More hurdles have been added to shrink federal costs and increase tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy by cutting participation.
Cornell University researchers describe these administrative burdens as “ordeal costs,” where households with the greatest need are pushed off benefit programs when requirements become insurmountable.
In practice, this means a SNAP participant with inconsistent work hours, without reliable transportation to a job or volunteer opportunity, or who feels overwhelmed by these eligibility changes is at risk of losing their benefits. Since H.R. 1 was passed in July, SNAP participation in New Mexico has declined by more than 22,400 people, including over 12,600 children, according to data from the NM Health Care Authority.
When changes to the SNAP program create confusion or fear, clear and accurate information from trusted sources can break through the noise to help our communities.
The Health Care Authority’s SNAP Outreach program builds on the trust of established community partners to guide households through the SNAP application process. Across the state, ECHO, Inc., Roadrunner Food Bank, The Food Depot, and the UNM Social Work & Wellness Coaching Team connect families to SNAP Benefits and the resources they need to maintain them.
At The Food Depot, the Navigation team is staffed by two bilingual resource navigators who help clients apply for assistance programs and access community resources. Since January of this year, they have reached nearly 4,000 people through the SNAP Outreach program, including submitting 80 SNAP applications.
Where barriers and bureaucracy build walls, a kind and understanding voice over the phone or presence in the office can create bridges to stability. When someone knows your name and your story, it creates emotional safety to express frustrations and ask as many questions as needed to brace against information overload.
As advocates across the state and nation continue to push to undo the harms of H.R. 1, New Mexico’s SNAP Outreach program empowers community partners to support clients through these changes in the interim.
Administrative burdens should not stand between a family and the benefits they are entitled to, nor their ability to keep food on the table.
For more information about HCA’s SNAP Outreach program and its community partners, visit www.hca.nm.gov/lookingforassistance/snap-outreach/.