Hey BridgeDetroit readers! 

On Monday evenings at BasBlue, a community space for women and nonbinary individuals, guests are welcome − no questions asked − to enjoy free meals prepared by local volunteer chefs. 

The suppers came together quickly last month when families across Michigan faced uncertainty around whether they would get their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, benefits during the federal government shutdown. 

In the time since, both brick and mortar and pop-up establishments wanted to help BasBlue. Plum Market and the Children’s Foundation donated money to offset the cost of groceries. Volunteers bus tables and run dishwashers − just like a normal restaurant. Guests get to order from the week’s menu or take food to go.

“We saw ourselves as having resources that we could deploy,” said Ellen Gilchrist, CEO of BasBlue. 

The Midtown Detroit membership organization and cafe was among the groups that opened its doors to offset the impacts of the food benefit assistance limbo, and as need is expected to climb heading into the holidays. In the past few weeks, organizations − large and small − have stepped up during the ebbs and flows of confusion around SNAP and are not stopping anytime soon.

Read all about how organizations and volunteers took action and  how to help during the busy holiday season.

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5,000 slots for smaller water program

Detroiters can now apply for a scaled back version of the city’s popular water affordability program that reduces water bills for low-income residents.

But, the revamped program is expected to cover far fewer households than it once did.

Dubbed Lifeline H2O, the program offers a fixed monthly bill of $34 a month for income-eligible households who don’t have a past due balance. It’s a pared back version of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s Lifeline Plan that launched in 2022 that brought bills down to as low as $18 a month and wiped away debt from overdue bills. That program ran out of most of its money.

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On Your Radar

FOOD MAP:  To view the city of Detroit’s food pantry finder, go to www.detroitmi.gov and click “Food Locations” to view the interactive map, searchable by distance and council district. The map includes locations and days and hours of operation.

DOUBLE UP ON FRUITS & VEGGIES: The Fair Food Network’s Double Up Food Bucks program, which matches purchases of fruits and vegetables using food assistance benefits up to $20 a day, has lifted the cap and it is now unlimited through the end of the year. Shoppers can also get $40 in Double Up Bonus Bucks, an additional offering, for fresh and frozen produce. For more information, go to doubleupfoodbucks.org. Call the program’s hotline at 866-586-2796 or text 734-213-3999 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday). Find a participating location at DoubleUpFoodBucks.org/find-a-location.

SENIOR HOUSING: A sprawling senior housing community, made up on three buildings and with 105 units, now stands on the site of what was once Michigan’s only historically Black college and university. Learn more. 

CASH AID EXPANSION: Wayne County commissioners greenlit $7.5 million to help launch a cash aid initiative for moms and babies in six communities: River Rouge, Inkster, Highland Park, Hamtramck, Melvindale and Dearborn. Families can apply at rxkids.org. Learn more.