After founding and leading a successful business focused on the growth of Latina entrepreneurs for more than a decade, due to a financial crisis, Ana Flores was forced to sell her company #WeAllGrow Latina and do what she never imagined: apply for and depend on government food assistance.

“I want to dismantle this narrative that those who need CalFresh benefits are people who want to live off social services, or who don't want “She's either unemployed or lazy,” Ana says. “This can happen to anyone who loses everything—a job, a business, a partner, an accident. There are many reasons to apply for social benefits like food assistance, and these benefits are supposed to be temporary, to help during a transition period while we recover," she says. In the country, 41 million Americans—one in eight—rely on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) food stamps to survive, but due to the federal government shutdown that began on October 1, funding has been suspended in recent weeks. The impact of the SNAP suspension has varied across states. In some cases, such as California and Massachusetts, the governments have used their own funds to continue funding the program in full. In California, approximately 5.5 million Californians, 13.9% of the population, depend on SNAP food stamps, which are known as CalFresh in the state. California was one of more than 22 states that filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for what they considered an illegal refusal to fund SNAP/CalFresh benefits due to the government shutdown. of SNAP food stamp benefits, rejecting its plan to pay only 65% ????of the aid. Originally, the government planned not to pay any benefits during November, despite having $4,$600 million available for that purpose from a contingency fund.

Ana, the daughter of immigrants, born in Houston and raised in El Salvador, who moved from Los Angeles to Idyllwild, an unincorporated community in the San Jacinto Mountains in Riverside County with her daughter, closed her company this year after 14 years in business.

“I built it on my own, but then I had partners. After 2020, I was in debt,and the cancellation of two conferences—one because of the pandemic and the other because of the hotel workers' strike in 2023—led us to a financial crisis,” she says.

The final straw came in January when Trump took office and began issuing executive orders.

The executive order targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in the public and private sectors impacted #WeAllGrow Latina, a company founded by Ana. “Everything we worked with was DEI funding. “We were already in a difficult financial situation, but when this executive order was issued, we lost our clients and panicked.” One of their clients informed them that the budget would be cut in half and asked them to submit a new proposal that didn't include Latina women. “That's when we said: Do we close the company or go bankrupt? “We managed to sell it.” Ana says that when she sold her company, she was left without a salary. “There's no talk about female entrepreneurs and the stories of people who risk everything to nurture and maintain businesses. To get loans, you put up your own assets as collateral.” With the money from the sale, they paid off the loans they had received from the government agency Small Business Administration during the COVID-19 pandemic. “So I had to start from scratch, living off the little savings I had left, which were nothing because I had already endured a year of financial sacrifice before the sale.” Faced with this situation, Ana says she was forced to apply for social services such as unemployment, SNAP food stamps, and Medical insurance. “For six months, my daughter and I received $540 in SNAP food stamps every month.” To reduce expenses, they left Los Angeles and moved to the mountains. “We moved to IDyllwild, an unincorporated community in the San Jacinto Mountains in Riverside County. That helped us have a lot less expense. food stamps can happen to anyone who loses everything.

"And many say to look for a job, but it's not so easy for some, or it's not so easy to find someone to take care of the children; there are many considerations."

She maintains that she was clear that she needed that help temporarily during a transition period.

"I knew that the moment I could generate my next business, I wouldn't need that support anymore because I contribute more as an entrepreneur than as an employee,and I can make more money as an entrepreneur than in a job." She explains that to receive social assistance, they have to report their income every six months, and since it improved a little in June, they reduced the amount she receives from food stamps to $24. But she makes it clear that we are living in times of empathy and understanding of everyone's needs. "One thing must be clear: we pay for this system with our taxes. We pay sales taxes with what we consume, with what we spend." She insists that at some point in life, we will need help from the social network. "Blessed are those who don't, but if at some point we need that support, let's remember that it's money we've contributed, and nobody is giving us anything for free. We're not milking the government for free." Ana emphasizes that unemployment, Medi-Cal, and food stamps are benefits we have earned through work, creativity, and entrepreneurship, and they are there for us to access when we need them. These things improved a little; they reduced the amount she receives in food stamps to $24. "I'm already recovering, and I always saw this assistance as an opportunity to recover; and everyone has their own story." But she makes it clear that we are living in times of empathy and understanding what everyone's needs are.

“One thing must be clear: we pay for this system with our taxes. We pay sales taxes on what we consume, on what we spend.”

She insists that at some point in life, we will need help from the social network.

“Blessed are those who don't, but if at some point we need that support, let's remember that it's money we've contributed, and nobody is giving us anything for free. We're not milking the government for free.”

Ana emphasizes that unemployment benefits, Medi-Cal, and food stamps are benefits we've earned through work, creativity, and entrepreneurship, and they are there for us to access when we need them.