A Rose By Any Other Name Would Smell As Sweet

Note: This is a copy and paste job from the blog I kept while I was an AmeriCorps member with the Pittsburgh Health Corps.  

Rough translation: What matters is what something is, not what it is called.

Now why might I be quoting old William?  Well when trying to come up with a creative name for my food stamp debacle this quote popped into my head.

The term food stamps was phased out in 2009 after a series of changes were made to the program; in its place came the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP program.  The federal government also decided to move away from the term 'food stamps' because of its negative social connotations.  While you can get a full history of the changes made to the program on the SNAP website, the NY Times has a pretty good run down in their subjects section. 

Now we all know when I took this service position one of the major selling points, besides the fact that I would be doing some good in the world, was that I was going to be getting food stamps.  While I say that in jest, it will be a huge help in supplementing the meager living stipend we are given.

Let me outline how my food stamp experience went:

• Sent in paperwork on September 12
• Received a letter about emergency food stamps two weeks later and told to ignore it
• Two weeks after that I got another letter for my interview
• Interview day came and went and I had no interview
• The following day I called the office where as bumped around to several different departments.  Apparently I was supposed to have the interview for emergency food stamps.  Because they could not find my file they told me that the easiest way to get this sorted would be to go to the welfare office
• I drove down later that afternoon and was told by an employee that I had been approved the day before
• 5 days later I received a letter saying that I had been approved for the maximum amount of food stamps ($200)
• The next day I received a letter saying that I had been denied
• Three days later I received my EBT card

In between there were several calls to the welfare office, Just Harvest and to my fellow Corps members.

I will say that this was an extremely interesting experience and one I hope that none of you will have to go through in the coming months and years.  As I discussed with some colleagues from work, this was an experience that helped to make me more aware of what our clients have to go through.  I am sure that my experience was not as bad as it could have been, but it sure was not a cake walk (especially compared to some of the stories I have heard from clients).  I did have some things working in my favor:

• I was hooked up with an organization that helped me to figure out what paperwork I needed to file
• I had access to a phone during work hours to be able to speak with my Just Harvest case manager and the welfare office; I also have access and the wherewithal to access the internet to find the answers to my questions
• My work schedule allowed me to go down to the welfare office in the middle of the day I had TRANSPORTATION to get me there in a timely fashion
• If any of the above bullet points did not exist, there could still be the possibility that not only would I
• Not have food stamps, I could very well be lost in the system, especially if I did not have a case manager advocating for me.  If I didn’t speak English this could also be a VERY different story.
• Probably MOST IMPORTANTLY I had money to buy groceries until my EBT card came.

Apparently the PA system is much easier to navigate compared to other near by states.  Over the past few years they have eliminated a lot of the paperwork, went to an online system and simplified the overall process.  On one hand I am glad to see that the system has gone digital, but it also made me think about the digital divide.  I would not consider myself to be the most computer literate person walking around, but I have the skills and language to get myself around the website.  Things would be much different if I was ESL and/or someone who did not have a great deal of experience with computers.

Addendum:  What I should mention is that all members were given the maximum amount of money allotted by PA which was $200, much more than the $133.26 Booker is using.  I should also note that I did supplement some of my grocery experiences and there were many weeks that I would outspend my meager food budget. 

Most of the foods I bought had to be prepared which means I needed to have some extra time on my hands to make that happen.  I was usually out of work by 4 which meant I had TONS of time to get dinner together and make lunch for the next day.  Things would have been much different if I was coming home later, to a house of kids and/or working two jobs.