Trump budget cuts could hurt thousands at downtown center

SEATTLE -- The Trump administration budget is getting blowback from public schools, colleges and both sides of the aisle.

But there's also serious consequences and concern in Post Alley.

“All of that is happening here at Pike Place Market,” said Patricia Gray with the Pike Place Market Foundation.



Tens of thousands of people a year come to the tucked-away market foundation for help -- everything from senior housing, a food bank, and low-cost health care put Gray's work in the cross-hairs of the Trump budget proposal to slash food stamps and Medicaid.

“Just the impact that that could have on this program is enormous and it`s hard to even calculate at this point,” she said.

Some are trying.

Gray said the clinic will face the most pain -- 19 percent in Children's Health Insurance reductions, and nearly 12 percent in Medicaid cuts, according to The Washington Post.

Gray doesn't see this as government waste handouts -- their work matches food stamps, which gives access to twice as much fresh food at Pike Place.

That program will be cut by 25 percent.

Cuts as well for those housing facilities---giving four dozen seniors a place to live when they would otherwise be homeless.

The real trickle down---where government spending has real people in mind.

“We already have tremendous issues on our plates, and to basically cut the bottom out from the federal government would be disastrous,” Gray said.