Busting SNAP Myths

Erin and I tagged along with the Mt. Carmel Hospital Mobile Team and made a trip to the West Side of Columbus to help people get their health checked out and, of course, apply for benefits. A caseworker at Mt. Carmel introduced me to Andrea Stewart. Andrea was on Social Security and was getting ready to receive health insurance for the first time. But even with SSI money, she was forced to live in a tent.

Ugh.

To Ms. Stewart's credit, she was one of the happiest clients I had ever encountered. Her living circumstances were depressing and unacceptable, but she had a smile plastered across her face at all times.

So: Homeless. Only a few hundred dollars in Social Security. Obviously eligible for SNAP Benefits. Obviously!

The Benefit Bank estimated that she should be receiving $17 a month in SNAP Benefits. That's one dollar above the minimum. And she lives in a tent.

Just something to keep in mind if someone talks about food stamps being easy money.

Andrea was also looking at having over one hundred dollars a month taken out of her Social Security to cover her Medicare premiums. Well that would not stand. We filled out a Medicare Premium Assistance application to help maintain her modest income.

Working with Andrea Stewart to get a little bit of help in food and a lot of help in health care was an absolute pleasure. I mean look at that smile:

i am taller than her

The rest of the event went incredibly well. Thirteen applications and a renewed feeling of partnership with the West Side's premier hospital. Good times all around.

Thinking on our Feet

Erin and I drove to Cuyahoga County on a Friday for a food distribution. We get there early. Always a good idea to get to a food distribution early. People wait in line for hours. Early is the time to talk to them.

So we show up and a VISTA, the wonderfully helpful Bridget, from the Cleveland Foodbank is there to assist.

One problem: We are the only three people in the parking lot. The date got mixed up.

So we go into overdrive. I'm calling the Cleveland Foodbank and our North Coast Regional Coordinator. Erin and Bridget are calling Benefit Bank sites and food pantries nearby.

Erin and Bridget hit paydirt. There was a food distribution in Cleveland proper being held from 12-4. We showed up in the Mobile Express with no warning whatsoever and had our fingers crossed that they wouldn't mind.

They didn't mind at all. They were pleasantly surprised. They let us park in their lot.

And with no warning, no advertising, no notice, we came through with a successful event.

Out of the 60 people we spoke to, most were already on SNAP. But that still left a whole lot voter registrations, Golden Buckeye cards, senior employment, and Medicare Premium Assistance applications. Within only an hour our day went from potential disaster to definite success.

That felt awesome. High fives all around.

This Post is Coming From Inside the Event!

Get it? Like the phone call from inside the house in When a Stranger Calls?

Carol Kane gets it.

Anyways, yes, I am writing this from an event. We're at another Project Homeless Connect event in Akron and oh my goodness gracious is this amazing. We're sharing a room with the Social Security Administration and that is fantastic. We get a lot of questions about Social Security and having them in the same room really puts us ahead of the game.

More bonuses! Across the hall? Summit County Metropolitan Housing! When we aren't getting questions about the SSA, we are almost certainly getting questions about rent assistance and public housing. And instead of leaving clients with phone numbers, we can just point across the hall.

This is awesome!

Also here: The BMV to help with IDs. The Office of Vital Statistics to help with birth certificates. And, of course, our good friends at Job and Family Services to help with pending cases and unemployment.

I love events that click like this. There are hundreds of volunteers and almost every appropriate county agency is here looking to help. It is a privilege to be part of something so great.