Program Supervisor Armando Nava reported that Baldwin Park provided emergency food boxes on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14 to residents affected by interruptions to CalFresh/EBT benefits during the recent federal government shutdown.

"We were able to help out 200 families, reaching out to a total of 543 individuals, combined," Nava said, listing dairy, frozen vegetables, grains, pasta, bread, potatoes, eggs, meat and snacks among distributed items. He said recipients were required to show city residency (utility bill), ID and their EBT card.

Because rain affected pickup on the second scheduled day, staff made home deliveries to seniors who could not travel to the distribution site, Nava said.

During the discussion the chair noted that some residents had received incorrect information from staff when they called, and urged clearer internal communications for future events. "Staff was giving them the wrong information," the chair said, adding that next time staff should be fully briefed about parallel programs running the same week.

The item followed routine opening business; the commission earlier approved minutes for its Nov. 3 meeting and later adjourned at 5:30 PM.

What happens next: commissioners asked staff to improve pre-event communications to reduce confusion among residents and to coordinate messaging when multiple assistance programs run concurrently.