If the U.S. Senate approves the current federal budget proposal, nearly 1.5 million Tennesseans — including half the children in the state — could lose access to life-saving health care and food assistance. That’s the warning from the Tennessee NAACP and a coalition of advocates who gathered Wednesday at the Memphis Branch NAACP office to oppose proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.
While policy experts delivered data-driven warnings, it was the raw testimony of Terrineka Maxwell, a Memphis mother of seven, and others that captured the stakes in human terms.
“I lost a child because I couldn’t physically take care of him,” Maxwell said, recalling the years she struggled to access SNAP as a young mother. “Now, I’ve got a baby with leukemia, another with juvenile arthritis, and two under five with autism. Without Medicaid, I couldn’t afford their medications.”
“This is real,” she added. “And without these programs, many of us won’t survive.”
Tennessee NAACP President Gloria Sweet-Love called on people to contact Tennessee’s U.S. Senators Bill Hagerty and Marsha Blackburn ahead of a June 19 vote on the budget measure. She noted that Medicaid covers nearly 1.5 million Tennesseans, including half the state’s children, while the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) supports nutrition for nearly 280,000 Tennessee children.
Jessica Peggs, a caregiver and Memphis ambassador with the Tennessee Caregiver Coalition, shared how Medicaid helps her care for her 12-year-old son Isaiah, who lives with multiple disabilities.
“Even though I work full time, we rely on his Katie Beckett waiver to cover his around-the-clock medical care,” Peggs said. “Family caregiving is the invisible infrastructure of our health care system — and it’s under attack.” (Tennessee’s Katie Beckett program is for children younger than18 with disabilities or complex medical needs who are not Medicaid eligible because of their parents’ income or assets.)
Nearly 30 percent of Medicaid recipients aged 19–64 aren’t working — not due to laziness, she said, but because many are unpaid caregivers. “We must invest in caregiving, not punish those who make sacrifices to keep loved ones at home,” she said.
Speaking through a sign language interpreter, Mary Catherine Rogers of Bridges for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing highlighted the plight of clients like Jess, a 24-year-old hard-of-hearing woman with autism and diabetes.
“When her blood sugar spiked to over 500 and her oxygen dropped into the 80s, Medicaid saved her life,” Rogers said. “Without it, she wouldn’t be here today.”
“These are not lazy people,” she added. “They are human beings, citizens, neighbors — created in the image of God.”
Reginald Alexander of the Mid-South Food Bank reported that more than one million Tennesseans are food insecure. His organization distributed 22 million pounds of food last year across 12 counties — but that’s still just a fraction of what’s needed.
“These aren’t people looking for handouts,” he added. “They’re working — just not making enough to survive. Cutting SNAP and Medicaid would be catastrophic.”
Reginald Alexander, Mid-South Food Bank
He made sure to point out that many SNAP beneficiaries are indeed working and earning money — but often there’s too much month at the end of the money.
“SNAP helps people bridge that gap,” Alexander said. “One recipient told us she’d have to choose between eating or keeping the lights on without it.”
“These aren’t people looking for handouts,” he added. “They’re working — just not making enough to survive. Cutting SNAP and Medicaid would be catastrophic.”
Cardell Orrin, executive director of Stand for Children Tennessee, connected the proposed cuts to broader issues like education and crime.
“What do we think happens when kids go to school hungry or sick?” he asked. “Then we’re told our schools and teachers are failing — but it’s these policies that are failing our children.”
“If these cuts are passed, the consequences will fall on our families, our schools and our communities,” Orrin said. “And those who vote for them will be responsible.”
Sweet-Love closed the event by urging citizens to contact U.S. Senators Blackburn and Hagerty and voice opposition to the proposed cuts. She emphasized that while this fight is often framed politically, it’s ultimately about human survival.
“This is not a Republican or Democratic issue,” she said. “It’s a people issue. And we must fight to the end to protect our neighbors, our children and our communities.”
Sweet-Love explicitly requested people dial phone numbers to reach their senators: “Guess what? They’ve somebody there that has to record every time you call. It’s important.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s Memphis Office: 901- 527-9199. Phone numbers for Blackburn’s DC and other Tennessee offices can be found at: www.blackburn.senate.gov/call-me.
Sen. Bill Hagerty’s Memphis Office: 901- 544-4224. Phone numbers for Hagerty’s DC and other Tennessee offices can be found at: www.hagerty.senate.gov/office-locations/
