Hampton officials outline state-funded VENA program to replace SNAP during federal shutdown

Dr. Tamara Timoni Porter, Hampton'9s human services director, told the City Council the state has created the Virginia Emergency Nutrition Assistance program, or VENA, to provide emergency food benefits while the federal government remains shut down. "So if you just reference VENA, that's what we're talking about," Porter said as she introduced the program and its chief differences from SNAP.

Porter said VENA is a state-funded emergency nutrition assistance program paid from Virginia surplus funds and intended initially for people who were already receiving SNAP in October. "They
re only working with existing recipients initially," she said, adding that the state would provide more implementation details as they become available. She emphasized that VENA is not SNAP but is intended to prevent households already enrolled in SNAP from going hungry during the shutdown.

Porter and City Manager Bunting framed the program as an interim measure: the state has committed funding through the month of November, and local staff are awaiting further guidance on December or longer-term arrangements should the shutdown continue. The council heard that the state and locality are coordinating on messaging and client support so enrolled residents understand how VENA will be delivered and how it will appear on their EBT accounts.