From the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger
3SquaresVT Challenge Highlights Struggles Vermonters Face to Feed their Families
November 22, 2010 ( South Burlington , VT ) – Last week over 80 Vermonters, including DCF Commissioner Steve Dale and chairs from the Hunger Councils of Chittenden, Washington and Lamoille County , participated in the 3SquaresVT Challenge as part of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Challenge participants were asked to eat on the average 3SquaresVT (formerly called food stamps) budget—approximately $1.80 per meal. Participants responded to daily discussion questions on the Vermont Campaign to End Childhood Hunger’s Blog during the Challenge Week and sparked discussions on the difficulties around meal planning, budgeting and sacrificing social gatherings centered on food. One blogger posted on Day 7 of the Challenge, “Staying within the financial limitations while eating healthy and nutritious meals required a great deal of planning, careful shopping and lots of home cooking. This has been a great experience – actually trying to make it work has raised our awareness far more than reading something or hearing from someone else.”
Angela Smith-Dieng, Senior Nutrition and Policy Specialist for 3SquaresVT at the Campaign remarks, “3SquaresVT makes a difference in the lives of thousands of Vermonters every day, but in many cases, the benefits are too low to allow households to purchase nutritious food and feed their families healthy meals on a consistent basis. This challenge helped bring to light the barriers to eating well on a limited budget while also offering participants shopping tips and suggestions for how to advocate for hungry Vermonters in their community.” Currently, 1 in 7 Vermont households are considered food insecure. 88,000 Vermonters receive 3SquaresVT, the nation’s single most important program in the fight against hunger, designed to improve the nutrition and food purchasing power of low-income households. Learn more about 3SquaresVT at www.vermontfoodhelp.com.
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Food Stamps and Medical Benefits denied during holiday season
Sunday, November 28, 2010
To whom it may concern-
During the second week of November I received a letter in the mail from the Department of Child Services stating it was time for my yearly benefits review and I needed to fill out paperwork and call for an interview before the 17th of November. Despite extremely long hold times and not having my phone calls returned… I managed to complete my interview on the 16th. I was informed a week later that my benefits would be cut off in December 1st due to failure to complete the interview.
Disturbed and annoyed… I called the help line and was told it was a clerical error and would be fixed. A week later, another phone call, still no progress, two Weeks later another phone call still no progress… Now i have two days until my benefits are stopped and I am left without food and medical insurance. I am hoping the error is resolved by Wednesday but am not optimistic. Thus begins a long, difficult appeals process that was unnecessary in the first place. This would be painful any time of year, but especially during the holiday season when things are extremely tight. I was told I did not need to appeal my case as it was just a clerical error and my caseworker would handle it, but now I see no other choice but to try and appeal tomorrow morning to keep my benefits uninterrupted until I can go to court over this matter.
The DCF office in Barre no longer does interviews with case workers there due to budget cuts so you’re left calling a toll free number and speaking to agents who are unable or unwilling to help or even care. I care not only for myself but for the countless others who i have seen encounter this problem first hand due to the new system being installed… i am writing this letter in the hopes that people will stand up and contact their senator and congressmen as I have to fight for people who follow the rules and deserve the help they so desperately seek. Whether it is Food Stamps, VHAP Medical, or Fuel Assistance, during these cold long winter months is when people need these services the most.
I read an article about the tens of thousands of people who are eligible for state benefits and how the state is encouraging them to apply. It’s incredibly discouraging that they have created such a difficult system for them to do so.
Sincerely,
Chad Snyder
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Just a clarification for the last graph — is it the NATION’s single most important program, or the state’s?