SNAP (Food Stamps)
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
SHARE Extends Your Food Budget through SNAP!
SHARE is a wonderful resource to help persons save on their monthly grocery bills, and we are grateful for your participation, and we encourage you to tell your family and friends about what they can save when they participate in SHARE.
Many in our area can’t afford $20 to purchase a SHARE Package, but they also may not know they may be eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, commonly called food stamps. Recent changes in Federal guidelines increased the amount of SNAP benefits a person can receive. And in some cases, depending upon where you live and whether you have children, the amount of money you can earn and still receive SNAP benefits has also increased.
In Maryland, to find out if you are eligible for SNAP and other economic assistance programs, visit www.marylandsail.org. You can also use SAIL to apply for SNAP.
If you want to find out if you are eligible for SNAP in the District, visit http://dhs.dc.gov/dhs/frames.asp?doc=/dhs/lib/dhs/pdfs/ima/ima_combined_app_(eng)__v24_091305.pdf . You can download a SNAP application, but you can’t complete it online.
SHARE will make a big push in 2011, working with our Catholic Charities’ partners and the state of Maryland to sign up persons in Maryland for SNAP. We will then encourage these new SNAP participants to use their benefits to purchase SHARE packages because their benefits will stretch much farther through SHARE participation.
Want More Information?
You will more hear more about these efforts in the months to come. If your site wants to learn how to help persons apply for SNAP using the SAIL system or become involved our food stamp outreach efforts, please contact Chris Byrd, chris.byrd@catholiccharitiesdc.org.