Behind the Door
What the Farm Bill Means in Colorado Springs
In Colorado, one in seven people struggles with food insecurity. That means one of the last seven people you interacted with today may be quietly struggling.
Did you see them?
The person who held the door for you. The professional beside you on the train. The clerk who rang up your lunch. The security officer at the entrance. The retired neighbor on your street. The young parent at school drop-off. The veteran at the pharmacy counter.
One of them may go home tonight and quietly wonder how they’ll feed their family. Hunger often goes unseen — it lives behind a closed door.
Seeing and Being Seen
At Crossfire Ministries in Colorado Springs, we see what happens behind those doors every week. Families walk into our no-cost grocery store not for a pre-packed box, but for a dignified shopping experience where they can choose the food their children will eat and stretch limited budgets wisely.
We serve tens of thousands of neighbors each year. They are not statistics or cases — they are families who walk through our doors looking for stability and dignity.
Many are working parents doing everything right and still coming up short.
Many are seniors living on fixed incomes stretched by rising costs.
Many households are one medical bill, one car repair, or one rent increase away from instability.
These are families in tight places — under-employed, contending with health crises, managing disabilities, or shouldering the burden of expanded households — who are working hard to remain housed, employed, and together.
Nutrition Policy Is Not a Line Item to Us
Federal nutrition programs are not abstract policy to us. Neither are they spreadsheet entries or distant committee-room debates. They are the difference between stability and strain for families in our city and those like it in this great country.
SNAP allows parents to purchase groceries before a missed paycheck becomes a missed meal. It allows seniors to stretch their fixed incomes without having to choose between medication and food. It keeps working households afloat when wages and costs no longer align.
TEFAP supplies food to organizations like Crossfire so our shelves remain stocked with healthy staples, fresh produce, and proteins that nourish families with dignity. These programs form the basis for local ministries to build a public-private partnership that ensures your neighbors have consistent access to the food they need to remain housed, employed, and together.
When these programs are strong, families remain stable. When they are disrupted, we see the impact immediately — longer lines, reduced supply, and deeper economic stress. In fact, this past November, during the SNAP delay, we saw daily guest counts rise from approximately 500 households to nearly 750 households, three days a week. That kind of surge does not happen in theory — it happens on our floor, in our aisles, and in the lives of your neighbors seeking help.
What the Farm Bill and H.R. 3784 Can Accomplish
The Farm Bill determines whether families quietly manage or quietly spiral.
We are asking Congress to protect SNAP in the Farm Bill, strengthen TEFAP through H.R. 3784, include food purchases in any agriculture supplemental, and stabilize nutrition policy for families who depend on it.
Here’s what that looks like on the ground in Colorado:
Colorado SNAP reliance: About 617,000 Coloradans rely on SNAP each month.
Food insecurity: About 1 in 7 Coloradans experience food insecurity.
Local impact: an estimated 75,000–85,000 people in El Paso County depend on SNAP.
Crossfire scale: Crossfire’s own service has grown from roughly 225 households per day in 2022 to about 410 per day in 2025, and we serve more than 20,000 households each year.
Real-time strain: In November, due to the SNAP delay, we saw daily guest counts rise from around 500 households to nearly 750 households, three days a week.
These aren’t just statistics. They represent working parents, seniors, and children who are trying to stay housed, employed, and fed.
Crossfire will continue to serve the families who walk through our doors each week. But while local organizations and ministries can provide community, dignity, and direct support, we cannot replace the federal nutrition infrastructure that makes stability possible at scale.
These are families we serve every single week. They are working hard, raising children, caring for aging parents, and enriching our community. We want them to succeed and remain stable. Stand with us and protect the programs that keep them steady, secure, and fed.
About Crossfire Ministries
Crossfire Ministries is El Paso County’s largest food pantry and a faith-based nonprofit serving families in the Colorado Springs region through no-cost groceries, clothing, and care. Each week, Crossfire supports approximately 1,500 families facing difficult financial seasons. In 2025, the organization distributed more than 3.5 million pounds of food, 521,000 hygiene items, and $392,000 in Thrift Store credit to help households meet basic needs. This work is made possible through community generosity and more than 112,000 volunteer hours. Crossfire is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) and a GuideStar Platinum Participant.
Location: 3975 N. Academy Blvd., Colorado Springs, CO 80917
Website: www.crossfireministries.org
MEDIA CONTACT:
Renee Bebee, Executive Director
Email: contact@crossfireministries.org
“Together, we can keep El Paso County fed. Every act of generosity fills more than shelves—it fills hearts with hope.”
