Robin Hood Joins Partnership to Launch Emergency Fund for Lowest-Income SNAP Recipients in New York During Pause in Federal Payments

NEW YORK, NY – October 31, 2025 — Today Robin Hood, announced it was joining an existing partnerships with Propel and GiveDirectly, to help fund the launch of a $2 million emergency fund to provide immediate relief to New York families facing food insecurity as the U.S. Department of Agriculture pauses Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits beginning Saturday, November 1, 2025.

Missed SNAP payments, due to the federal government shutdown now entering its second month, have created a nationwide $8 billion shortfall that affects more than 41 million Americans—one in nine people across the country. In New York, the impact is particularly severe. A recent analysis from Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy projects that the November SNAP benefit loss will push 35,000 state residents into poverty, including 23,000 living in New York City.

The emergency fund will provide at least $50 in immediate cash assistance to 38,000 households across New York state — including more than 60 percent in New York City — within 24 hours of a missed payment. The initiative specifically targets families receiving the highest SNAP allotments (more than $500 per month), indicating they are the lowest-income households with multiple dependents.

“New Yorkers who meet SNAP’s eligibility requirements rightfully expect to draw on the federal program’s support to help feed their families, and they should not go hungry,” said Matthew Klein, Chief Program and Impact Officer at Robin Hood, New York City’s largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy. “We are proud to be in partnership with organizations and donors who are working to help our neighbors during this challenging period. While $50 is clearly not enough to feed a family for a month, this immediate cash infusion will help New York families put something on the table and provide some peace of mind.”

The fund leverages technology from Propel, an alumnus of Robin Hood’s Blue Ridge Labs Fellows program. Propel’s app helps SNAP recipients track and budget their benefits, and currently serves nearly 400,000 users statewide, including 228,000 in New York City. Propel’s data system identifies missed or delayed payments in real time, and the organization reports that more than half of Propel’s New York City users, approximately 114,000 people, will lose SNAP benefits between November 1st and 12th.

GiveDirectly, a global organization specializing in direct cash assistance to people living in poverty, is managing fund distribution. Using Propel’s data, GiveDirectly is targeting payments to families receiving maximum SNAP benefits, ensuring the most vulnerable households receive immediate support.

As the fund raises additional resources, it will expand to support even more families in need.

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About Robin Hood:
We are NYC’s largest local poverty-fighting philanthropy and since 1988, we have invested nearly $3 billion to elevate and fuel New Yorkers’ permanent escapes from poverty. In 2024, through $129.5 million in grantmaking with 285 community partners, we created pathways to opportunities out of poverty through our strategic partnerships on childcare, child poverty, jobs, living wages, and more. We are scaling impact at a population level for the 2 million New Yorkers living in poverty. At Robin Hood, we believe your starting point in life should not define where you end up. To learn more about our work and impact, follow us on X @RobinHoodNYC or go to robinhood.org.

Media Contact

Kevin Thompson, Managing Director of Communications, Robin Hood, press@robinhood.org