Why was D-SNAP (Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) so seemingly inaccessible to those devastated by Helene?
My experience with D-SNAP filled me with a mix of emotions. The folks running the booths were patient and kind, despite the chaos. I thank them dearly for their time; however, there were a number of observations that concerned me to my core.
1. The limited number of places to apply for D-SNAP. Twenty-five counties were approved in Western North Carolina for D-SNAP, and each county had only one location to apply. Buncombe County consists of more than 200,000 residents alone.
I personally saw a car line at the Henderson County location reach at least a mile. I myself had to hike about 10 blocks if I were to make it in time, and luckily, my physical stamina gave me the means to do so. How many were not so lucky? Whether it be due to transportation, medical limitations or being turned away at the end of the line because they cannot walk in?
Why did we only have seven days to apply when the application itself takes hours in person?
2. The difficulties in applying on the phone. So many of my personal friends and colleagues were not able to get through on the phone. A lot abandoned the job due to it taking hours and even days to make any headway. There are still many people who have an unstable connection to the outside world. Why did they not anticipate such high call volumes? Especially with folks facing a deadline.
3. The lack of awareness in the community about this program. I’m the founder of United Appalachia, and I speak with dozens of locals every day. No one I knew was aware of this program until days before the deadline. I did not hear of any commercials nor of any official announcement. Everyone I know heard of this through word of mouth.
When I was in line at the Henderson County location for D-SNAP, I asked a few different people in line the same question because I wanted to know: “When did you learn about D-SNAP? How did you find out?”
Nearly all of them had the same answer. “I learned about this in the last three days, through word of mouth.”
I was personally told by my mother living in South Carolina the day after it was announced.
Further, I have since made a TikTok video [avl.mx/ea5] that went viral with dozens of comments from people singing a very similar tune: “I learned too late,” or “I couldn’t get there in time.”
Again, why did we only get seven days to apply for this program? There are over 1 million people combined in the 25 counties, most of whom have been affected by this storm in some way.
The limited locations and the lack of virtual accessibility made for this program to be a failure for those affected by Helene.
The locations should have been multiple, the phone lines should have been accessible, and the deadline should have been longer than seven days.
My question is: Why?
— Autumn Mullins
Hendersonville
Editor’s note: Xpress contacted the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services with the letter writer’s points, and we received a response from spokesperson Summer Tonizzo, which said in part: “The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services understands the concern of individuals impacted by Hurricane Helene navigating the D-SNAP process. The department advocated for and received every possible flexibility from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support individuals and families as they recover from the devastation. USDA limits the D-SNAP application window to seven days and has rules about how D-SNAP applications can be processed and who is allowed to process them.
“In compliance with those restrictions, hundreds of county and N.C. DHHS staff worked to ensure as many people as possible could apply for D-SNAP benefits. More than 180,000 people (including over 40,000 in Buncombe County) were approved for D-SNAP through both in-person and phone applications.
“If people weren’t able to apply for D-SNAP, they can still apply for regular Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) [avl.mx/ea6], Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) [avl.mx/ea7] or contact 2-1-1 [avl.mx/ea8] for food assistance.”
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