CHICAGO – With working families facing food insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic, State Senator Celina Villanueva (D-Chicago) is promoting the state’s expansion of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

“Thousands of people have been thrown out of work and need to feed their families,” Villanueva said. “We can’t allow the most vulnerable among us to go hungry during this crisis.”

The Illinois Department of Human Services announced that all SNAP recipients and new applicants will receive the maximum benefit beginning this week, impacting over 450,000 households. The increased benefits will be loaded onto Link cards automatically through May, so there is no need to call or re-apply.

SNAP benefits are determined by the size of the recipient’s household. The maximum benefits are as follows:

·         1 person - $194

·         2 people - $355

·         3 people - $509

·         4 people - $646

·         5 people - $738

·         6 people - $921

·         7 people - $1,018

·         8 people - $1,164

·         Each additional person – Add $146