Democratic Congressman Paul Tonko held a second press conference, on Friday, Nov. 7, with food-stamp recipients and their advocates, promising to bring their stories to Washington for negotiations.

“A true story that exists in our community is the most powerful tool …. Knowing these stories, hopefully hit the heart somehow of these decision-makers who want to deny,” said Tonko.

Late Sunday, a 60-40 vote in the United States Senate paved the way for the end of the federal government shutdown, at least until January. Eight senators who caucus with the Democrats agreed to vote with the Republicans in a deal that does not extend the expiring Affordable Care Act tax credits over which Democrats shut down the government. The GOP promised only to hold a vote on the tax credits, a vote that is likely to fail.

Tonko issued a statement on Monday, Nov. 10, saying, “This so-called deal in the Senate is a betrayal of everything we’ve fought for over the last 40+ days and of all those we’ve asked to fight alongside us.

“Nothing in this deal will address skyrocketing health care costs for millions of Americans. Nothing in this deal will address the rampant lawlessness of the Trump Administration.”

Nevertheless, with negotiations no doubt nixed, the stories that were shared on Nov. 7 are worth hearing.

Although Democrats have now lost their limited leverage, if enough of us hear these stories, maybe the mid-term elections will give us a federal government that will restore and even enhance our badly frayed social safety net.

Rev. Dustin Longmire, pastor of the Messiah Lutheran Church, hosted the Nov. 7 gathering. He also chairs the board at the Rotterdam Community Center where the conference was held.

He noted that 22 percent of all children in Schenectady County rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Lapsed SNAP benefits, he said, are “hurting so many folks in our local community.”

But, despite the immediate crisis, which may soon be resolved with the government reopening, Longmire said, “Our emergency food system already was not working before the SNAP benefits lapsed, right? So how can we work together to make sure that everyone has access to healthy and nutritious food?”

One woman told the story of how her car broke down last month. “So you pay the rent, you pay the utilities, and you pay the insurance — so no money for medicine or food. So I was without my medicine for several weeks and I got very sick. My sister found out and ordered it for me.

“No food, I got really depressed, honestly, really depressed. I felt kind of hopeless. And yesterday I was donating some things to the food pantry and I went down there and they lifted me up. They were positive; they were helpful. They helped me pick out some healthy foods that I needed and it just lifted my spirits. It was just incredible,” she said.

Another SNAP recipient, a man, said, “Sometimes I get embarrassed because there’s other people in this world and in this community that I think need it more than I do …. My mom started with a food pantry out of a house and it became the St. Luke’s food pantry.” His mother who dedicated her life to feeding people — “it was her thing,” he said — “heard a lot of sad, sad stories.”

People ask him, “Why do you wear these shirts all the time?” Answering himself, he went on, “Well, in case somebody needs a shirt, I can take the one off my back.”

Another food-stamp recipient, a woman, said her husband died five years ago. He had worked for 30 years for an 82-dollars-a-month retirement, she said. “He was uninsurable; he had heart problems, and could not get insurance. So I was left with Social Security and that small pension.

“So, I applied. I only get $24 a week, but I’ll tell you … you can get your produce and, you know, it goes a long way.”

Her daughter has been a teacher for 30 years and said some of her students come to school without snacks so she provides them. The woman’s church, then, started collecting shacks. “So we have a supply in our pantry now that if there’s children come in, they get a bunch of snacks so that they have some to take to school.”

The woman said she was brought up in a family that volunteers and now her grandchildren volunteer. Her granddaughter has worked at the food pantry since she was 5 years old and now is having a food drive there for her National Honor Society project.

“We have wonderful, wonderful people that are so compassionate and kind and feel that it is a no-judgment zone.”

A no-judgment zone: That struck me as something each of us should strive to create.

As the man who wears many shirts said, “Someone judges you before they know who you are …. It’s a sad thing.”

One of the food-pantry organizers said, “People have to not judge because they believe it’s a scar on a person if they can’t work. He fell off a bridge, broke his back in three places. You know, there’s a million different reasons ….

“I guess that’s probably the thing that bothers me the most. It steals hope from people when they’re being judged. And, if they don’t have hope, they have nothing left.”

What also struck me with these stories was that the people receiving food stamps were at the same time helping others in need.

“Most of the folks running emergency food programs are, many of them, on SNAP themselves,” said Rev. Longmire.

A representative from the Food Pantries of the Capital District described long lines out of pantries before they open, and then cleaned-out shelves once the doors do open.

She described food-stamp recipients “saying that they will take less because they feel others need it more than them. But they need it, but they’re willing to give up for others.”

“We need to use this moment to not just start the flow of SNAP funding again but to look at wider issues,” said Longmire. He said help for hunger or cold “are not emergency things — they’re regular things of everyday life.”

Longmire concluded, “We need to use this moment to build a movement to make sure that food is a human right in New York state.”

The reverend is right. We should strive to restore our federal social safety net by choosing wisely in the next election. But, in the meantime, advocating for state legislation is crucial.

And, as individuals, not judging others but rather helping others is the course to take. We should follow the example of the food-stamp recipients who shared their stories.