The governmental food program aimed at providing funds for those with lower income pay for groceries, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), was a turbulent process for me and my housemates. Beginning the week after we arrived in Boston, I, Mara, and Rebekah began to fill out our SNAP application. Initially, we had some questions about whether to apply as a household; what utilities do we actually pay for; and how to answer our income questions. Once we got a sense of what to say, we were ready to finish the application in mid-September. We each answered the same questions the same and yet received our SNAP benefits in wildly different ways. Mara completed her application first and had the first interview. She received her card within a couple weeks of her call with the DTA office (the beginning of October). Her process I would call the most normal of the three of us. Rebekah and I completed our applications on the same afternoon and were notified that we would have our phone interviews the following week. Rebekah’s interviewer was able to show that Rebekah was eligible for Emergency SNAP and she was awarded emergency funds for the rest of the month (September). Later, there was some confusion with whether she was confirmed for benefits yet. Luckily, she was indeed approved and got her card in the mail about 2 weeks later (the beginning of October). So, Rebekah and Mara had their cards and I was still waiting to hear about the status of my eligibility. To make the process of uploading documents easier, we all downloaded the DTA app on our phones. Rebekah and Mara could check their balance status and I could see the status of my application. One afternoon, after Mara and Rebekah had already received their cards in the mail, I looked on the app and saw I was denied for SNAP benefits because of “special projects.” I was confused about why this would be the case as Mara, Rebekah, and I all answered the same questions in the same way and yet our SNAP stories diverged almost immediately. I called the DTA office early the next week to inquire about why I was denied benefits and see if there’s an appeal process. The person I talked to was similarly confused as to why I was denied and changed my status over the phone. Online it still showed my application was “in process,” but I was receiving benefits. By this time (early November), it had been about two months since arriving in Boston and a little over a month since applying for SNAP. The benefits I received then was backlogged since beginning the service year. I now had three months of benefits that I am still working through. In mid-December, I lost my wallet which had my SNAP card in it. I had just gotten my hands on the card and within a few short weeks, I lose it! I had to cancel the card and request a new one. This set in motion a trigger in the SNAP system to issue me an “Interim Report” in early January that makes sure I still have all the same information as before. If I didn’t return the report as soon as possible, my benefits would be canceled by the end of February. My rough road in applying and securing SNAP benefits has been a long and frustrating and unfortunately still an on-going process. While I had my fair share of issues with the application, I am reflecting on how much more difficult it would be if I couldn’t be on the phone while at work for a total of over 4 hours on hold in various frustrating phone conversations. How much more difficult it would be if English weren’t my first language; if I didn’t have two housemates who did get SNAP and could get groceries on their cards; if I needed the benefits right away and had to choose to pay out of pocket for food over something else important. I did not need to worry too much about the lack of SNAP benefits, but my difficult journey to apply, receive, and continue to have benefits makes me mindful of the many compounding difficulties others have when they apply for ongoing SNAP benefits. I am grateful and humbled to struggle with the government system. I have gained valuable insights to the complex means by which benefits can be denied by making a small mistake on an application or confusing a deadline. I have learned to appreciate the privilege I have in not worrying about choosing between food and another essential service.
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AuthorHi, I'm Sierra! I will be serving in Boston, MA as a Boston Food Justice Young Adult Volunteer for the 2019-2020 academic year. I graduated college with a major in Philosophy and minored in Classical Studies. Archives
July 2020
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