LARAMIE — Recent publications by the Wyoming Community Foundation (WYCF) show that many more people in Wyoming qualify to use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) than use it. Wyoming’s SNAP gap is the largest in the nation with one in three eligible households not accessing the program. 

"SNAP is an important tool to make sure our friends and families have the food they need to be healthy, productive community members,” says Micah Richardson, associate director of policy at the Wyoming Women’s Foundation. Nearly 10,000 Wyomingites currently access the program.

The Survey and Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming conducted interviews on SNAP usage. They found:

• The families who qualify but don’t use SNAP say that offices in rural Wyoming can be hard to get to

• The application is complicated

• People are unaware of the program

• They fear the stigma around receiving support being some of the factors 

For example, one person highlighted the issue of geography and transportation, noting that the closest Department of Family Services Office is 40 miles away. 

A community member who works with families who qualify for SNAP shared, “The one thing I constantly see is people think that either their income level is too high, or they just don’t really know exactly what SNAP would offer them.” 

Director of Food Bank of Wyoming, Danica Sveda says, “In Wyoming, SNAP is a lifeline. It can be difficult to navigate, but for the neighbors who do the work needed to receive it, the program is vitally important.” She goes on to say, “SNAP gives families the dignity to choose the foods they need, just like anyone else shopping at the grocery store.” 

According to the reports, 31,725 Wyoming households are potentially eligible to access the program. Fifty-three percent of eligible households with children under 5 years old don’t access SNAP. And the gap is even larger for people over 60 or who live with a disability — an 88% gap. 

The publications also offer solutions to make SNAP stronger. This includes improving local outreach and messaging about SNAP, building trust through relationships, making the SNAP application process easier, and ensuring there is more support from service providers and nonprofits in filling out the forms. 

“None of our Wyoming friends and neighbors should go hungry,” Richardson states.

“That’s why SNAP is so important.”