All You Can Eat?

The lowdown on getting and using food stamps, from James Fishwick.

Does paying for food and shelter leave your weekend plans severely limited? As a VISTA, you are eligible for food stamps. Technically. Food Stamps are the cornerstone of the Federal government’s Food and Nutrition Service (a division of the USDA), and are an extremely important part of our social welfare system. Here comes the kicker, though – while municipalities must have Food Stamps programs, the actual process is administered and enforced on the state level. This means there is an enormous amount of discretion and variance in the sort of assistance you may receive your local office. In fact, it is not unusual, by whatever insane calculus, for VISTAs in the same area to get different outcomes from their visits to the house of state assistance.

Scared yet? Well again, VISTAs do qualify, and the extra $141 in groceries a month is not to be sneezed at. So walk in prepared. Here are some tips, tricks and cold hard facts to arm yourself with. Good luck, and may the force be with you.

For starters, food stamps cannot be taken away if you obtain them before your term of service. In fact, all prior federal assistance is unaffected upon joining VISTA. Well yeah, this is a moot point by now, and I know that we all didn’t necessarily already live in the area we’re stationed. So now is the time. Assuming that most of us qualify as the single members of our “household”, allow me to break down the various requirements :

- Under $2,000 in countable resources (mainly applies to your checking/saving account)
- A gross monthly income of under $973 (or a net under $749)
- A valid Social Security number
- The meeting of certain work requirements

Good for you, you’ve already met three out of four requirements. Way to go, champ. I don’t know the size of your bank account, but if your first year experience is anything like mine, you’ve already made a significant dip into your amassed savings for this year, and you’re not really left with much from your paycheck to build your nest egg back up. You’ll have to disclose pay stubs and complete bank statements at least every couple months, so the best way to deal with excess funds to hand them over to mom or another family member, and have them dispense in a manner that keeps you poor. Also, keep in mind all the allowable costs of living which count towards your monthly amount: the cost of fuel to heat and cook with, electricity, water, the basic fee for one telephone, rent or mortgage payments and taxes on the home (some states allow a set amount for utility costs instead of actual costs). If everything is tabbed correctly (hold your breath), you should qualify for the full amount of $141.

Hmmm, so what can go wrong? Well, mainly your caseworker’s take on what your job actually is. Should you be treated like full-time staff, a volunteer, or some combo of the two? The official answer, of course, is that VISTA is not a job. It is a full-time volunteer gig for which you are awarded a small stipend. A stipend that IS NOT a salary. Unfortunately, I have not heard of any Food Stamp programs that don’t count the stipend as income, although the National and Community Service Act says it should be excluded from determining eligibility (you can find documentation on that here). It also should be noted that in many cases the locality will view your signing the AmeriCorps VISTA as voluntary poverty (true, of course), which can be used as ground to turn you down. Again, there is an enormous amount of discretion given to each individual caseworker, and it seems that each interprets the guidelines very differently. Also be aware that some welfare agencies are suspicious of dress-shirt-wearing, just-graduated-from-college, obviously-not-down-and-out, young white boys. Or maybe I just look shifty. The good news is that CTC VISTAs have gotten on the system, with various degrees of difficulty. Precedents have been set - use this information while building your case.

One last note – here’s a list of things you can’t buy:

- Any nonfood item, such as pet foods; soaps, paper products, and household supplies; grooming items, toothpaste, and cosmetics
- Alcoholic beverages and tobacco
- Vitamins and medicines
- Any food that will be eaten in the store
- Hot foods

That’s right, you can buy fifty dollars worth of Snickers and Coke, but stay away from the B vitamins. Even though the FNS is dedicated to “providing children and low-income people access to food, a healthful diet, and nutrition education in a manner that supports American agriculture and inspires public confidence.” Ahh, I love the smell of bureaucracy in the morning!