Mayor Brandon M. Scott Announces New Assistance for Baltimore Residents During Government Shutdown

City to Invest Over $4.68 Million in Assistance for Residents and Federal Workers

BALTIMORE, MD (Tuesday, October 28, 2025) - Today, Mayor Brandon M. Scott announced that the City of Baltimore will invest over $4.68 million to support residents and federal workers affected by the ongoing government shutdown. This investment - funding programs that cover food, housing, and child care - comes as millions of Americans are set to lose crucial federal assistance. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are at risk for over 116,000 Baltimore residents, and federal employees are on the verge of missing a second paycheck.

Residents are encouraged to visit https://www.baltimorecity.gov/shutdown for information on how to apply for these programs and other resources.

"Once again, working people in our city and across the country are paying the price of Trump and Republicans' incompetence," said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. "We're talking about folks having their food, housing, child care, and health care ripped away from them. While we don't have the funds to fill every gap left by the shutdown, we're going to do everything we can to support our residents. Our hope is that this package will help Baltimoreans put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, and care for our youngest residents- and I want to thank all of the community partners stepping up to support this work."

• $550,000 to the Maryland Food Bank for its partners in Baltimore City to expand food distribution;
• $410,000 to the Baltimore City Health Department for the Home Delivered Food Box Program, which delivers shelf-stable groceries directly to residents;
• $300,000 to the Department of Planning for the Produce Box Distribution Program, an ARPA-funded program established during the Covid-19 pandemic, that will fund an additional 17,647 15-pound boxes of fresh produce for residents at over 30 distribution partners across the city;
• $150,000 in grant funding to So What Else, which provides mobile food delivery across West and Southwest Baltimore;
• $150,000 in grant funding to The Food Project to support three months of operational and food costs;
• $150,000 in grant funding to the Baltimore Hunger Project for weekend meal delivery for City Schools students.

Food Assistance

The City will invest $1.71 million for food distribution, including:

The City will reallocate a total of $4,685,000 in funding from FY25 carry forward funding and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to the following areas:

These programs are not restricted to SNAP recipients: any resident struggling to afford groceries can access these additional resources. Residents should visit https://www.baltimorecity.gov/shutdown to learn more about these programs and others.

Rental Assistance

The City will allocate $1 million to the Mayor's Office of Children and Family Success (MOCFS) to support rental assistance for federal workers and recipients of federal housing subsidies. For federal employees/contractors whose primary residence is a rental, this assistance will cover October and November rent. For residents living in federally subsidized housing, assistance will cover November rent.

Residents can visit one of MOCFS' CAP centers to access support.

Child Care Support

The City will allocate $1 million to support child care costs for essential federal workers who are working without pay and SNAP-eligible families.

Residents can sign up at https://www.baltimorecity.gov/shutdown to be notified when applications open.

Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs

The City will allocate $975,000 in grants to hospitals who are key partners in the City's Community Violence Intervention work. These institutions, which provide residents with emergency care and essential support, were facing the risk of layoffs by the end of this week. The City will give:

• $310,000 to MedStar to support programs at Harbor Hospital, Union Memorial, and Good Samaritan;
• $245,000 to Lifebridge Health to support Sinai Hospital and Grace Medical Center;
• $220,000 to Saint Agnes Hospital;
• $100,000 to University of Maryland Medical Center Shock Trauma;
• $100,000 to Johns Hopkins Hospital.

"Donald Trump is jet-setting around the world instead of sitting down to negotiate an end to his shutdown, that our dedicated civil servants are unfairly bearing the brunt of," said Senator Chris Van Hollen. But when Trump shuts the government down, Team Maryland stands up - including Mayor Scott and Baltimore City taking action to support federal workers who are struggling through no fault of their own. I will keep fighting to get federal employees paid, block this Administration's mass firings, and reopen the government in a responsible way that reins in Trump's lawlessness and protects Americans from exploding health care costs."

"While Republicans refuse to reopen the government, Team Maryland is doing everything in its power to stand up for the incredible civil servants who have spent their lives serving the American people," said Senator Angela Alsobrooks. "These people are not political pawns - they are patriots. I'm grateful to Mayor Scott for his work. In the Senate, I will continue to fight alongside Senator Van Hollen and our entire delegation to get federal employees paid, to prevent massive spikes in health care costs, and to reopen our government."

"It brings me great pride to see Mayor Scott taking these steps to fill the gap that Donald Trump created for the thousands of federal workers that call Baltimore home," said Congressman Kweisi Mfume. "These civil servants perform essential duties - from processing Social Security benefits to safeguarding our skies as Air Traffic Controllers - and they deserve to be taken care of, even if this presidential administration couldn't care less. I thank Mayor Scott for this action, and I look forward to continuing to work with him to fight on behalf of Baltimore and its people."

"This shutdown isn't just reckless - it's painful. Hundreds of thousands of furloughed workers are losing their paychecks. Millions are about to lose their healthcare. Many more could lose vital food assistance," said Congressman Johnny Olszewski. "I thank Mayor Scott and our community partners for committing these desperately-needed resources to the people of Baltimore who find themselves struggling to pay for food, rent and childcare. I also again call on Congressional leadership to come to the table, work together and reopen the government today to end this unnecessary pain."

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