Clients at Good Neighbors Community Kitchen and Food Pantry in East Providence wait in line for food assistance on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025. (Photo by Michael Salerno/Rhode Island Current)Kimberly Merolla-Brito strode toward lawmakers clutching stacks of papers detailing the plan to overhaul the state’s food assistance program. But the director for the Department of Human Services barely glanced at the binder of materials during her hourlong pre…