Thursday, July 16 | Volume 40 No.18

THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2026

Republican Cuts to CalFresh are Hurting Inland Empire Families

INLAND EMPIRE---- One year ago, Repub- licans' Big Ugly Bill kicked 300,000 Califor- nians off their food assistance to pay for a tax cut for billionaires. Today, families here in the Inland Empire are going hungry as a result. People are already struggling to keep up with rising prices and to put food on the table, but these Republican cuts have only made things worse for Californians.

Republicans' Big Ugly Bill has had very real consequences on people right here in our com- munity. Recently, Congress Representative Pete Aguilar joined the Family Service Asso- ciation of Redlands for its monthly food dis- tribution day, which provides over 100 meals to Inland Empire residents facing food inse- curity. Many of our neighbors who lost their CalFresh benefits may not know where their next meal will come from and rely on support from no-cost community food assistance orga- nizations to get by.

Aguliar is grateful for organizations like the Family Service Association of Redlands that help ensure people in our community don't go hungry. But in the wealthiest nation on earth, there's no reason that should even be a pos- sibility.

REDLANDS

PATH TO SUCCESS

SUMMER FOOD & FUN

People across the country are suffering be- cause of the Big Ugly Bill, and Donald Trump and Republicans do not care. He will keep fighting back against Republican cuts to food

REDLANDS

COMIDA DE VERANO Y DIVERSIÓN

BACKY SCHOOL

NO OF SURE PROGAN assistance programs and work to bring down costs so California families can afford the healthy meals they need.

California's Unhoused Seniors:

A Crisis Within the State's Homelessness Crisis

By Edward Henderson | California Black Media

California's homelessness crisis is increas- ingly becoming an aging crisis, as a growing number of older adults' experience housing instability at a stage of life when health chal- lenges, fixed incomes and mobility limitations can make finding stability far more difficult. Nearly half about 48% — of single adults experiencing homelessness in California in 2023 were at least 50 years old, according to a University of California, San Francisco report. That figure represents a dramatic increase

Senior Citizen / Community Center from 1990, when older adults accounted for just 11% of the state's unhoused single adult population.

For many seniors, preventing homelessness requires more than an affordable apartment. It requires housing connected to healthcare, transportation, case management and other supportive services that allow older adults to remain independent while navigating the reali- ties of aging.

"California's population is rapidly aging, but our supportive housing systems have yet to catch up," said David Lindeman, chair of the California Commission on Aging (CCoA), during the Commission's annual information hearing titled “Nowhere to Go: Addressing the Crisis in Supportive Housing for Older Cali- fornians.

The hearing, held at the California Endow- ment in Sacramento, brought together housing advocates, government officials, service pro- viders and individuals with lived experience to examine why so many older adults struggle to find housing designed to meet their needs. To continue, visit www.westsidestorynewspaper.com.