My 54 yr. old sister is Disabled and has M.S.
She just told me she has no food…it is a long story. How do & where do I go to apply for Food stamps for her?
Contact Social Services in your area. If you’re in or near a major metropolitan area, you’ll probably have an office nearby. If you are in a more rural county, you’ll likely need to go to the county seat to fill out the application. Depending on the regulations, your sister may need to apply in person. Food Stamps are administered by the Department of Agriculture, so if you can’t find any information anywhere else, start there.
Call her local community action office - they ought to be able to help you figure out if she’s qualified and if so (and I hope so!) how she can apply. “Local” means one main office per county in this state with branch offices scattered throughout the county, so it may be in another city/town for you depending on where she lives.
(Pennsylvania) Department of Welfare Employee chiming in (with the standard disclaimer that all of my experience is with the state of PA and may not apply to your situation)…
Pennsylvania’s DPW is set up on county lines, as elfkin describes New Hampshire’s. Each county has at least one County Assistance Office (CAO) and densely populated counties (like Allegheny (Pittsburgh) or Philadelphia) have multiple CAOs. If you were in PA (which, as far as I know, you may be) I would first suggest finding out the phone number for your local CAO and calling them to find out what you need to do to apply for her. They may be able to send you (or her) an application via USPS, which you can fill out and send back in via USPS or take to the CAO personally if it’s not too far away.
Can your sister get around at all (as in, to the assistance office, if necessary)? In PA, you have to appear at the CAO in person to receive your EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) card for Food Stamps or Cash assistance. If a client can’t make the trip to the office because of disability or serious illness, they can designate an Authorized Representative via a special form you can get from the CAO. The person named as Authorized Rep can come in and get the card for the recipient, as well as receiving a card on that client’s account with which they can go shopping for them if they’re housebound.
Again, this is specific to Pennsylvania only. If you are in a different state, your mileage WILL vary, I’m sure.
How about calling local churches and food banks in the area? They will probably have very good information as to how, when, and the easiest way to apply. In addition, they are likely to give her food to survive.
I might be able to direct you/her to a Benefit Bank site (my employer - I work in a department which does editorial work and eligibility criteria for state bens & taxes). It’s generally a faster and easier (and free) process to see a social worker or church using our site than going to a county. You do need to hook up with a trained counselor to use the site, and we’re not in every state yet.
We electronically file applications with states, give follow up instructions to the client and even estimate how much in the way of benefits the client could expect.
What state are you in? If you need or want to email me (link from my user name) that’s fine.
I should point out that we use a lot of the info we’d need to sign someone up for food stamps to determine eligibility for medical benefits, LIHEAP & other things your sister might need. If she works we could also do her taxes for free, and get a nice return.
In case people wonder what the catch is, we’re grant funded… not even trying to make money. Pretty good at that too… 