24 November, 2023

State of Georgia Delaying Food Stamps During the Holidays? Seriously?!

Today is the day after Thanksgiving. Black Friday, as many have come to know it. Personally, Black Friday means little to me these days, as I am unable to shop for anything other than groceries anyway. As someone who lives on disability and has no money at all left after housing and utilities are paid each month, I don’t pay much attention to all those Black Friday sales. To be honest, even when I was working and able to buy gifts for people during the holidays, my panic/anxiety largely kept me away from crowded shops on that day, as the experience is rather nightmarish for someone like me with autism and anxiety. It’s sensory overload gone mad.

What I DO pay attention to, however, is trying to keep myself healthy by eating the proper foods – I try to always make sure I have the healthy foods I need on hand. Along those lines, I was trying to place a small grocery order this morning via the Instacart app. Yes, I have to pay to get my groceries delivered. It isn’t because I am lazy or entitled, mind you, it’s because I am home-bound, with no way to get to the stores and shop on my own. So I had my few items all ready to go, and I was going to use my Food Stamps/EBT card to pay for them (with my bank debit acting as backup to cover the delivery costs – which EBT doesn’t cover).

Well… my purchase got denied.

I was confused… and had I actually been in the store, paying at the cash till, I would have also been quite embarrassed. What had happened? My Food Stamps/EBT account always gets updated on the 23rd. I had my renewal interview a couple of weeks ago and had been approved. I even got a letter in the mail confirming it, and telling me I would be getting my money, as usual, on the 23rd. So why on earth, the day after the expected update day, was I unable to access those funds to purchase my groceries?

At first, I thought perhaps it was because of the holiday. Maybe they’re a bit behind? Then I remembered that this stuff is all digital and they’ve never had a delay during holidays before. Indeed, a quick look at the web told me there shouldn’t be a delay due to holidays. But what else did I find when I was Googling?

Well, I’m going to be honest with you – I wasn’t prepared for what I found. I’ll link some of the articles below:

Apparently, there’s some sort of giant MESS going on with Georgia Food Stamps program, and LOADS of people are being affected. Many people wouldn’t have been able to buy food for their Thanksgiving dinner (guess it was a good thing I wasn’t making anything special for myself and I’d just had a bowl of soup from my freezer). But some of the stuff I am reading says this may not be fixed until after the first of the year? WHAT?

As it stands, I get approximately $100 a month to eat on. $25 a week. I am also on a special (and very strict) nutrition protocol for my medical condition, which means that I cannot eat the super inexpensive things like ramen noodles and boxed mac & cheese. I must eat lots of healthy, fresh produce, (organic as much as possible) grass-fed, organic meats, and wild caught, organic seafood. No, I am not just trying to be all fancy and “special” – I really do have to eat this stuff and cannot deviate from it without paying the price (with my health). The protocol is working for me. It has helped me immensely. It’s the reason my inflammation has improved to the point of my being able to do physical therapy and learn to walk again! I do not want to go back to being bed bound because I am not eating the right foods to help my condition. You can imagine how difficult it is to manage on the amount that I currently receive, but I AM grateful for it. So grateful. And I depend upon it! With that being said, however, I have also been blessed to have a couple of friends help me out, too, (as I would not be able to buy the proper food for my protocol otherwise) but not everyone has that.

Here’s the thing though… this absolute MAYHEM with the Food Stamps program is SERIOUS. I’m not talking about myself here, as much, but what about those families out there with small children… elderly people… disabled people… and other folks who may not be able to get help in this crisis. What about them?! I fear many of them didn’t have much of a Thanksgiving dinner yesterday because of this. If this situation continues, those same folks will likely have no Christmas dinners either.

And as one of the articles suggested, this has a definite ripple effect. When parents must choose between feeding their families or paying for electricity… what do they choose? They need to feed their kids, obviously, but if they do… they likely won’t be able to pay their electric bill. So let’s look at what could happen… Their power gets shut off. Then they are facing the winter months without heat. There are also extra fees to eventually have it reconnected, so they may be without for some time. Then if the state finds out they can’t keep their kids warm, they run the risk of losing custody of those kids. You see where I am going with this? A knock-on effect that could stand to tear families apart. All because of a “snafu” with the Food Stamps/EBT system.

It’s an absolute shambles, and one that the State of Georgia really needs to get sorted pronto! Come on, Georgia! What are you DOING? It sounds to me like major mismanagement of funds all over the place. It isn’t at all acceptable, but I haven’t a clue as to what to do about it. People like me are powerless, you see. The only thing I CAN do is to write about it in the hopes that people who ARE able to get out there and make a fuss, raise awareness, and/or HELP during this widespread chaos – can see this and do something!

I haven’t the foggiest idea as to how to fix it all – but my GOODNESS, does it need to be fixed!

Meanwhile, I have a little over a dollar on my Food Stamps / EBT card the day after it was supposed to have been updated. I am thankful for friends who have stepped up to help, (without having even been asked, I might add… that is how lovely these folks are) so I am okay right now… but what about all of those folks out there who are VERY MUCH NOT okay?

Please spare a thought for them… and if you are in a position to take action on this (I’m looking at YOU, Georgia State Legislators, etc…) PLEASE jump in there and roll up your sleeves. This is NOT a good look for the State of Georgia.