It's been one month since the US government shutdown began, making it the longest in history. Many of the roughly 800,000 affected federal workers affected nationwide are turning to charity, some for the first time, to help make ends meet.
The Capital Area Food Bank - operating in Washington DC - has seen a twenty percent increase in demand for meals.
From Washington, Harry Horton reports.
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De Borah Grant hasn't worked or been paid since before Christmas. With healthcare, car insurance and mortgage payments piling up, plus two children to feed, she's turned to this foodbank just outside Washington.
(UPSOT OF DE BORAH LOOKING THROUGH FOOD BAG)
As a contractor, she's unlikely to receive back-pay when the government re-opens.
<<TAKE SOT: De Borah Grant, Federal contractor>>
"I've cut back on everything. We don't go out, we don't do… Everything that I've done, I try to do it in the house because my thought is everytime you go out you spend, and I don't have the money to spend. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to go…. So I'm just hoping Trump gets it together real soon because everybody is suffering from this."
As the shutdown enters its second month, this food bank has handed out more than one thousand bags of groceries to government workers.
It's also offering mental health classes to them deal with the stress and anxiety that come with being suddenly without work. Johnny Parker is one of the organisers here.
<<TAKE SOT: DR JOHNNY PARKER, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF GLENARDEN>>
"This comes right after Christmas, so people have spent a lot of money perhaps during the Christmas time so now, this happens… some people maybe saw this coming, but now it's here. So what do they do with their emotions and their relationships going through this?"
President Trump has said this shutdown could last for months, even years. And with little evidence of compromise between Democrats and the White House he could be right.
Polls suggest most Americans blame President Trump for the shutdown. But he's standing firm on his demand for five billion dollars to pay for his wall at the border with Mexico. Democrats say they won't negotiate until he reopens the government.
In the meantime the impact on government workers and the economic cost of this shutdown is growing by the day.
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