by Sharelle B. McNair
October 31, 2025
With one in eight Americans depending on the service as a source of nourishment, Scott wants his constituents to know the city has their backs.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced a $4.6 million-funded program to assist residents affected by the government shutdown, now in day 30, The Baltimore Sun reported.
With $4,685,000 to spend, the program comes out of a four-part aid package carried over from fiscal year 2025 and American Rescue Plan Act allocations provided to the city. “This funding will help residents put food on the table, pay rent and cover child care, and will support hospital-based violence responders whose institutions depend on federal support to provide life-saving services,” the mayor said at the Oct. 28 news conference.
The mayor’s program is in response to the shutdown, which is cancelling SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, by Nov. 1. With one in eight Americans depending on the service as a source of nourishment, Scott wants his constituents to know the city has their backs. “Our city dollars will never be able to fill the gaps left by this administration and their friends, but we are committed to doing what we can to support the folks that are the most directly impacted by this shutdown,” Scott said.
“If nobody else got us, we have to have our own selves.”
Out of the massive funds, $1.7 million will be allocated for food assistance toward the Maryland Food Bank and for grants awarded to service organizations such as the Food Project, So What Else, and the Baltimore Hunger Project, according to CBS News.
Close to 12,000 government workers call Baltimore home, with specific amounts of funds being allocated to guarantee assistance to those who may have been furloughed during the shutdown, already the second-longest in history. Close to $1 million will be geared toward assisting impacted federal workers in need of childcare services, and another $1 million for rental and living assistance, with workers being eligible to apply to have their rent covered.
Another $975,00 will be used to support hospitals that work with community violence prevention programs. “We know that because of this shutdown, these institutions were facing the risk of layoffs by the end of the week,” the young mayor said.
“This is about keeping our neighborhood safe, getting our residents the care they need, and protecting the folks that keep our city healthy, while continuing to drive down violence at historic rates here in Baltimore.”
Maryland is home to more than 60 federal facilities, close to 300,000 federal employees, and 200,000 federal contractors. Since the shutdown’s Oct. 1 announcement, state leaders have banded together to make sure their residents don’t fall behind. Days later, Gov. Wes Moore established a Federal Shutdown Loan Program through the Department of Labor to provide financial resources to state residents defined as “excepted” federal employees. Maryland Democratic Reps. Kweisi Mfume and Johnny Olszewski, who represent the Charm City area, applauded Scott’s efforts.
Both present at the press conference, Mfume criticized the Trump Administration for putting funds towards other initiatives over what’s needed. “If we had half of that money — $20 billion aimed at providing healthcare subsidies that are going to go away — aimed at making sure that SNAP is taken care of, we would be halfway out of this issue,” the congressman said.
“$40 billion to Argentina when we only needed $20 [billion] to get us started on the road here, something’s wrong with that picture.”
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