San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie launched a work program Monday with the hopes of keeping residents connected to food assistance amid federal cuts and new eligibility requirements.
The new CalFresh Community Works Program, run by the San Francisco Human Services Agency, will help residents maintain eligibility via identifying work opportunities.
The number of those at risk of losing benefits due to the change in requirements is approximately 17,000 residents, according to the agency.
In July 2025, the federal budget bill House Resolution 1, or H.R. 1, added new eligibility requirements for people seeking food assistance. CalFresh delivers the federal Supplemental Food Assistance Program, known as SNAP, and provides monthly food benefits to low-income individuals and families.
The eligibility rules started applying to all new applicants after June 1, while also requiring those already receiving assistance to prove they meet them or become automatically exempt when their annual recertification date arrives.
More specifically, beginning June 2026, CalFresh recipients aged 18 to 64 who can work and do not have children under the age of 14 must meet monthly work requirements to maintain their benefits, a release sent from Lurie’s office said. The work requirement is now 80 hours per month, with additional recertification to prove eligibility.
People who do not meet the work requirements can only receive up to three months of food assistance over a three-year period. Previously, such recipients didn’t face a time limit and were eligible as long as they registered for workforce development programs.
“Washington is trying to kick families off the healthcare and food assistance that many of our neighbors rely on,” Lurie said in a statement. “In San Francisco, we are strengthening our social safety net, helping people meet the new requirements, and supporting our communities at the same time. By connecting San Franciscans to these opportunities, we can help people put food on the table for their families and come together with community-based organizations to make our city safer, cleaner, healthier.”
Nonprofits invited to apply
Starting Monday, Lurie’s new CalFresh Community Works Program will allow the city’s Human Services Agency to receive proposals from nonprofits wishing to assist San Franciscans in maintaining their CalFresh benefits. The selected nonprofit organizations will help centralize information and resources on how people can satisfy the new work requirements.
This includes offering assignments that develop marketable skills or participation in “workfare,” a structured work activity for a public or private nonprofit worksite in exchange for benefits, the city release said. These resources will allow people to engage in community-based work activities, a low-barrier way for participants to maintain CalFresh eligibility.
“The federal changes under H.R. 1 risk pushing between 25,000 and 50,000 of our neighbors into deeper hardship — not by eliminating benefits but by making public benefits harder to keep,” said Trent Rhorer, an executive director at the Human Services Agency. “At a time when these work requirements are creating new barriers to keeping CalFresh, we are focused on developing tools and supports that make it easier for clients to find information, connect to services, and stay enrolled in the benefits for which they are legally entitled.”
The deadline for nonprofit organizations to submit their proposal to assist in the CalFresh Community Works Program is July 29 at 3 p.m. The preproposal conference will occur virtually on July 14 at 10 a.m., and the chosen nonprofit will be awarded in August.
