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A business owner near the Travis Air Force Base says her profits have been hit hard as the government shutdown reaches day 30, causing an economic ripple effect. Kami Johnson owns Mahogany Soul Food. Her sales are down 56% since the shutdown started. Johnson's restaurant depends on Travis Air Force Base, where she says 90% of her customers work. "I feel anxious," Johnson said. "It's just all about being resilient, you know, and finding ways to kind of cut back and set up some temporary budgets." Hanna Styskal is a U.S. Airman stationed at Travis Air Force Base, who also works part-time at Johnson's restaurant. She says even airmen who are being paid are not spending. "People are being stingy," Styskal said. "I think they're just trying to save their money just in case we're not going to get paid anymore." At the Food Bank of Solano and Contra Costa Counties, CEO Caitlin Sly says federal workers have become some of the people they now serve. "The federal government is creating the crisis," Sly said. "We do have people who are coming to us for the very first time and are saying, 'I haven't received a paycheck since the beginning of October because of the shutdown.'" The business of feeding federal employees is one month into this government shutdown. "That was the fastest 30 days," Johnson said. "I mean, I felt it every single day," Johnson's has now mastered the recipe for resilience: hope. "I'm hopeful because I know that nothing lasts forever," Johnson said. Johnson says she has cut back on staffing by 30% in the last month and reduced her menu.
