Episode 25: Haley Kottler

Welcome to the Pioneers in Health podcast. In this podcast, we share inspiring stories of pioneering leaders from our nation and from your backyard who are working to improve health.

In episode 25, we interview Haley Kottler, thriving and integrated voter engagement director at Kansas Appleseed.

Haley engages Kansans in anti-hunger advocacy, building grassroots campaigns and strategies to increase voter turnout related to hunger policy. Her dedication to equity and fairness drives her efforts in policy and legislative action for justice.

In this episode, Haley discusses her journey into advocacy. She shares the formative experience of becoming a caretaker at a young age for her mother, who developed a rare form of muscular dystrophy.

“That really did shape the way I see the world and how I want to see justice and equity and dignity for all,” she said.

She saw firsthand how hard it was for her mom to access basic things, such as health care and going to the doctor, mobility challenges she faced and even how she was treated by others.

“I learned very quickly the system was not built for people like my mom, who were in a wheelchair and breathed on a ventilator, and that really did leave a lasting impression on me,” she said. “That has really driven my advocacy work. …It shaped me to believe that we really can believe and build a world where people don’t have to fight so hard for what should be fundamental rights for them, and because of that, I believe that policy can really be a tool for that. That’s really why I am here working in Kansas on advocacy.”

At Kansas Appleseed, she focuses her efforts on food access, including the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and child nutrition programs, such as summer school meal programs. She said about 1 in 5 Kansas children face food insecurity – not knowing where their next meal will come from.

“We know it’s a pervasive issue, and unfortunately, there has not been much done to make any headway on eradicating hunger in Kansas,” Haley said.

She said the SNAP program, which was formerly called food stamps, is the most effective way to address food insecurity in Kansas and across the country. SNAP not only helps people afford groceries, but it also improves health outcomes and provides stability to help people get back on their feet.

SNAP provides support to working families with low-paying jobs, low-income seniors, people with disabilities living on fixed incomes, and other people with low incomes. The program’s benefits are paid for by the federal government, but the cost to administer it is shared with each state.

“We are straining the same families with these proposals just to make tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, and it’s just not sitting right with me.”
– Haley Kottler on proposed cuts to programs that provide food assistance and health insurance to vulnerable Americans

“I think it’s a big, bad bill, if I’m being honest,” she said. “…It proposes disastrous, substantial cuts and sweeping changes to federal safety net programs, including SNAP.”

In Kansas, SNAP supports over 200,000 people, with the majority of those children and seniors, she said.

Haley said the current bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, known as the “big, beautiful bill,” is the most significant threat she’s ever seen to the program. The bill proposes over $300 billion in cuts to SNAP as part of an effort to extend tax cuts for wealthier Americans.

Haley discussed how the bill’s current work requirements are damaging and how the bill could terminate millions of people’s access to SNAP. She also addressed myths surrounding work requirements and SNAP, highlighting that most people who receive SNAP benefits already work.

Additionally, the bill would shift more of the program’s cost to states, further straining state budgets and likely resulting in additional cuts to the program. Benefits are already meager in Kansas, she said, with families receiving just about $6 per day per person.

She discussed how the proposed bill also would impact people on Medicaid, the public insurance program that provides health insurance to low-income families, seniors, pregnant women and people with disabilities. More than $800 billion could be cut from Medicaid.

“We are straining the same families with these proposals just to make tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, and it’s just not sitting right with me,” she said.

In this episode, she also discusses:

The mission of Kansas Appleseed

The difference between hunger and food insecurity

How cuts to SNAP could also remove families from access to free-and-reduced meals for their school-aged children

Efforts to change reduced-priced meals to free meals for qualifying families

The benefits of food security for children, especially while they are in school

What gives her hope for the future

And much more! Listen now, and learn more about how Haley is an innovative leader in health care.