Chantille Manuel has dedicated the last five years to transforming her life.

This Florida resident managed to recover from her addiction, lost more than 140 pounds, and started her own business: a beauty salon.

Despite all these Despite her achievements, Manuel has struggled to feed her family and relies on social assistance from both local churches and the U.S. government to survive. “I don’t want to depend on anyone; I want to be self-sufficient,” she says. She is one of more than 40 million Americans who could be left without essential food assistance after Saturday due to the partial government shutdown caused by Congress’s inability to reach an agreement on new funding. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is used by one in eight Americans, including Manuel, and plays a vital role in how many people buy food. It works by issuing debit cards that the government typically reloads each month, which people can use to purchase food. But officials running the program say they will not have the necessary funds to pay all benefits starting November 1. Manuel spent the last of her October SNAP money last week on items like coffee, coffee creamer, and tuna.

She didn't have time to consider whether the government would find a solution before Saturday, when she did her shopping.

“It'll either be available or it won't,” she assumes. “So I'd better buy what I need right now.”

Earlier this month, the Trump administration refused to use a contingency fund that would have allowed benefits to continue, arguing that the fund is needed for potential emergencies such as natural disasters.

A “crucial lifeline”

In any case,Even those contingency funds wouldn't be enough to completely solve the problem. They would only cover about 60% of a month's benefits, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), a think tank specializing in policies that help low-income families. Democrats and Republicans have disagreed about using the contingency funds to at least alleviate the situation. Democrats argue that the Trump administration has already secured funding for other essential services during the government shutdown—such as pay for members of the armed forces—so it could do the same for the SNAP program. Republicans, on the other hand, claim that SNAP will be funded again if Democrats reopen the government, in an attempt to blame the opposition party for a stalemate that has already lasted five weeks. On Tuesday, Democrats in the The U.S. Senate introduced a bill to continue funding SNAP during the shutdown. It is still unclear whether it has enough votes to pass. While lawmakers in Washington continue to blame each other, SNAP's "critical safety net" hangs by a thread, says Hanna Garth, a Princeton University professor who studies food insecurity. "Many recipients earn very little money, even when working," she notes. Thus, it becomes a crucial lifeline that prevents families from falling into extreme poverty.

It can also be the deciding factor that allows some families to rise above the poverty line.

Since these funds may not be replenished after Saturday, many Americans will have to turn to other sources for food, such as food banks.

“It’s really hard, it’s very distressing.”

On a sunny Tuesday, a dozen volunteers fill a packing area at the All Faiths Food Bank warehouse in Sarasota, Florida.

Last year they fed more than 80,000 people, and the need in the area continues to grow, says Nelle Miller, the food bank’s executive director.

Since the partial government shutdown began on October 1, the food bank has seen an increase in the number of people needing food.

“Last year we had three hurricanes here. It was a disaster, “But this is a new storm,” he says. “The difference is that people won’t recover immediately.” Approximately 20,000 people in the area receive benefits from the SNAP program, he explains, and of those, about 6,000 also use food bank resources.Miller is concerned about what will happen to the 14,000 SNAP recipients when their payments run out this weekend. Will they also need the food bank's help? he wonders. While All Faiths can redistribute its food supplies to feed more people in case of need, that would mean each person would receive less, he explains. “Receiving food is an inalienable right. You're born on Earth, there's enough food to feed everyone. It's a distribution problem,” Miller says. “I just can't imagine denying any human being food, water, or air. It's really hard, it's very distressing.” According to the CBPP, a family of four receives an average of $715 a month, which is just under $6 per person a day. But Austin Lemmer, as an individual, receives less: $295 a month. He already spent his October SNAP benefits and is preparing for not receiving them next month. “I'm very anxious,” he says. “I’ve been trying to stretch the little food I have as far as possible, but there’s a limit, especially when you’re already living on bags of rice and canned beans.”

The states administer the programs, and much of the funding comes from the federal government.

Several states have pledged to use their own funds to cover any shortfalls. However, the federal government has warned that they will not receive refunds. Some states, such as Florida, have said that their SNAP program recipients will lose benefits if action is not taken before the weekend. In an attempt to prevent this, on Tuesday, 25 Democratic attorneys general from 25 states, plus the District of Columbia, sued the Trump administration over its plan to suspend funding for food assistance. They argued that the administration's decision not to use the contingency funds would be illegal and would deprive millions of Americans of the ability to buy food. In response to the lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Agriculture blamed the Democrats for the depletion of funds and stated that the party must decide whether it wants to "maintain the support of the party's most left-leaning wing or reopen the government so that mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable can receive timely subsidies." The government shutdown has now lasted 29 days. Wednesday and is the second longest in history.

No significant progress has been made towards an agreement to reopen the government.

This has frustrated many SNAP recipients, like Manuel.

“I don’t think the politicians in Washington would make the decision they’re making if it affected them the same way it affects us,” she laments.

“As long as they have food to eat, that’s what matters to them.”