Living on SNAP (Food Stamps): Part Three

As reported in the last blog post in this series, the average length of time a person uses food assistance is 9 months. Every state has different qualifications for receiving food assistance. In Illinois, where the woman featured in this post received her assistance, a recipient is required to work at least 20 hours a week if not in school, and if attending school, they are required to have employment through federal work study for at least an hour a week. Although, if homeless or in an emergency situation, food assistance may be expedited as deemed fit.

Still in high school, working part-time, engaged, and living with her fiancé who also had a part-time job, Stacy came across the harsh reality of paying bills and feeding two people on little income. When she received food stamps they were literally food stamps; the aide she received in 1996 was in the form of conspicuous food stamp booklets where the recipient had to tear off individual stamps that “looked like Monopoly money” and hand them to the cashier. Today, food assistance recipients receive an electronic card that appears like a normal credit card, and is used as such.

-Andriana Bicanin

AmeriCorps*VISTA

2010 - 2011

Stacy:

I had just moved out of my grandparents life and was an emancipated youth. I was living with my then fiancé, and I had no idea how expensive it was to live on my own. The first time I got a $200 power bill I knew we were in trouble. Justin (ex-fiancé) didn't have a job yet, and I was working for just above minimum wage and was limited in the hours that I could work because I was still in high school, so I decided to apply for assistance. We got one time help with the power bill, and emergency assistance. We were fortunate in that we didn't have to pay rent because my grandparents owned the house.

My biggest problem (with food stamps) was that they only took new applications on specific days at specific times. As for the process, you couldn't make an appointment so if you did have a job (which I did) you had to take an entire day off work. At the office they hand you an application that is 10 pages long, most of the questions were asked over and over again (name, date of birth, social security number, etc.), and then you had to provide proof of ID which included Government ID, birth certificate, and social security card. We also had to provide proof of address with a bill and/or lease. We had to show proof of income with our last 3 pay stubs. Then there was an interview. The lady was very nice, and I've been told that it usually takes the better part of a month to get food stamps but we got ours in 2 weeks. We were classified as an emergency situation. From our perspective it was. They then gave us a referral to Community Action which helped us with our power bill.

Keep in mind this was 15+ years ago before Illinois started using the EBT cards (link) cards. Every month we would have to show proof of income and they would send us a booklet (or two depending on how much money we made that month) of actual food stamps. Going through the checkout was embarrassing because everyone in town knew who I was (the local dentist's daughter). It was a big production too because most cashiers made you tear out each individual stamp (which looked like monopoly money) and hand it to them rather than taking the entire booklet. As far as assistance goes it didn't stretch very far. I used them to buy non-perishable goods and part of my paycheck to buy produce, meat, etc. I was a coupon clipper too so NO ONE wanted behind me at the checkout!

Receiving food stamps meant that we had more than a sack of potatoes to eat (which I had lived off of). So there was definite improvement in my standard of living. It allowed me to get my feet under me. We were only getting assistance for about a year before I was able to make enough for us to live off of. Justin never really had a job that paid the bills (he worked 20 hours a week at a car wash for minimum wage).

While receiving assistance I worked as a dental assistant for my dad. I was able to come off assistance once I was able to work full time (after graduating high school). Number of hours worked depended on how many emergencies. I was scheduled for 35 but usually worked at least 40, usually more.

For further information on SNAP (food stamps) aide:

http://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/snap.htm