Question About Food Stamps...

[littlemonkeys]

Hi-I live in Washington state, in king county, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience in this. We are on food assistance right now-I am in school and hubby is on TANF disability, but not getting any SSI or anything. He just got tested for celiacs yesterday but we are all pretty sure he and our daughter have it. I have already started trying gluten free products-but many of them are quite a bit more expensive than regular foods. As it is, we have to pay about $150 out of pocket for food each month-and that is out of the whole $270 we get each month. Are there any special circumstances that can get you increased food assistance? If he is diagnosed that is. The case worker I spoke to said no, but I know I have gotten wrong answers before and have even worked around things before. I am trying to find the administrative code for this type of thing, but no luck yet. I just wanted to see if anyone else has had any luck with this. Thanks

[kejohe]

My husband works for social security and says that this kind of disability, if biopsy diagnosed, may be covered by SSI, because it's also covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act, especially if your husband has other disabilities and cannot work, and you are going to school to better yourself. The only way to find out would be to file a claim, but it might be worth a try.

Also, there are often a lot of community programs, through churches or the municipality that can offer assistance in dire situations, you may just want to sit down and make lots of phone calls to find out whats available. For municipality assistance, I would make a call directly to your governor. We had a story in our newpaper not very long ago about a young lady, who was trying to raise a daughter and get off welfare and her church had a fund especially for situations like hers and they actually helped her pay for school and and car to get her there. If you go through organizations like that, they can give you funds based on need, rather than circumstances, which seems to be how the government offers assistance.

[kejohe]

I checked with my hubby abou the SSI assistance, and he mentioned that if you or your hubby are military veterans there are VA benifits that may help you. Also state funded energy assistance and/or housing assistance that may halp pay for your other bills so that you can save more money for your food costs.

He also mentioned that if you are on medicaid you should talk to your case worker and ask them if you can get your doctor to prescribe the gluten free foods, would medicaid cover them.

He did want to me clarify that if you want to apply for SSI, your husband, being the disabled one, needs to file the claim. You, being of able mind and body enough to work, would not be approved.

He said that you are probably correct about the case worked being wrong about the increased food assistance and that you might need to go abouve her to the next level and pursue even further.

If your hubby is able, he may need to do a lot of this, since he is the disabled one.

Another thing is the WIC (women, infants, and children) program, it's seperate than food stamps and covers quite a bit of food related costs. The website for the state of WASH disability services is www1.dshs.wa.gov and has lots of info on different programs.

I hope some of this helps, being the of a celiac, and working for SSI, my hubby id very sympathetic to people with the disease, but as I mentioned before the government has some pretty stringent standards for when and how they disperse funds so those community organizations may be the most helpful.

[cdobbs]

i work for a foodstamp office out of texas. i have asked about it myself and there is no more help as far as foodstamps bc it is all based on income. i have heard there are other state programs available to help out with special dietary needs. i have yet to find it but i have heard. i see alot of people come into the office on special dietary needs who are getting just a few dollars in fs but we cant increase them bc of imcome levels. try calling your state office or congress person to see if you cant find anymore help in that area. i dont know about where you are but there are plenty of local community groups that are more than willing to help out. i would persue the ss part of it as well. the way i have seen it from other people it seems that you will get denied and have to appeal the decision about 3 times to get ssi. thats just from an outside perspective. stay on them and i would definitly call your state office. if there is o program maybe if you bug your congress person enough then they might be able to start a new program. there are plenty of options available to people but its just digging to find them. goodluck i hope everything works out for you and your family.

christi

[lovegrov]

I'll offer a different perspective -- just avoid buying those expensive and sometimes crummy tasting gluten-free specialty foods. The ONLY gluten-free specialty foods I buy with any regularity are pasta and crackers and the crackers aren't much more than regular ones. Instead of expensive gluten-free cookies I either make my own or, usually, eat some other sweet. My "bread" is corn tortillas or lettuce (I can afford the bread but I despise it). Sometimes I get cereal. Otherwise, I just use fresh and "normal" processed foods that are gluten-free.

I know this isn't the way for everybody, but ot works for me.

richard

[lilliexx]

i agree with richard!! I was buying specialty products a lot, but now i save them for special occaisions. i am slowly learning how to eat the foods i used to eat, minus the bread. for example, i used to love chicken fajittas, but instead of buying gluten free tortillas, i just make the filling and eat it on a plate w/o the tortilla, or make a sandwhich with out the bread. After awhile you get used to it, and dont even really miss the wheat in meals!! and it is cheaper, then buying all the special gluten free items!

[ashlee's mom]

Hi, we are currently getting some assistance with food stamps as my dh is a new teacher and I stay home with our kids. Money is VERY tight, so I do all I can to save. We eat mainly gluten-free meals, and make substitutes for my daughter when needed. I have found that making her bread and crackers and pancakes from scratch really saves us a lot. I couldn't begin to pay $5 for a loaf of bread! Not to mention that the one I did buy when she was diagnosed last winter tasted like styrafoam! The main gluten-free products we buy are rice spagetti (which we only use for her, we use the regular and watch for cross contamination, saves $) and the various flours. I also get her the Bob's Red Mill gluten-free Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal. She loved oatmeal, and this really helps. Seeing how I am only feeding a 5 year old, though, it goes a ways! It was an investment in the beginning though, getting all the ingrediants and a Kitchen-Aid mixer. Our parents were wonderful and pitched in to help us with that expense. If family is unable or unwilling, perhaps one of the community service groups could. Maybe even contact your local celiac disease support group and see if anyone has any ideas. It helps to get all the info together so you will know what to do when you get the results. Good luck!

[tarnalberry]

I've got to agree with Richard. Whole foods that are naturally gluten-free are naturally cheap as well - many of them, anyway. Rice and beans are cheap and filling, nuts aren't dirt cheap, but also very filling and go a long way. Fresh produce and meats can also be inexpensive (if bought in season or on sale) and can be stretched as well.

[Marian mcdermott]

On 11/5/2004 at 8:26 AM, cdobbs said:

i work for a foodstamp office out of texas. i have asked about it myself and there is no more help as far as foodstamps bc it is all based on income. i have heard there are other state programs available to help out with special dietary needs. i have yet to find it but i have heard. i see alot of people come into the office on special dietary needs who are getting just a few dollars in fs but we cant increase them bc of imcome levels. try calling your state office or congress person to see if you cant find anymore help in that area. i dont know about where you are but there are plenty of local community groups that are more than willing to help out. i would persue the ss part of it as well. the way i have seen it from other people it seems that you will get denied and have to appeal the decision about 3 times to get ssi. thats just from an outside perspective. stay on them and i would definitly call your state office. if there is o program maybe if you bug your congress person enough then they might be able to start a new program. there are plenty of options available to people but its just digging to find them. goodluck i hope everything works out for you and your family.

christi

Ty for the info..my granddaughter already gets ssd..she has signs of autism and  a.d.h.d. on top of all this

[Ennis-TX]

57 minutes ago, Marian mcdermott said:

Ty for the info..my granddaughter already gets ssd..she has signs of autism and  a.d.h.d. on top of all this

Your responding to a post from 2004 over 14 years old. I will admit it is hard, and there was a thing where you could file for gluten free flours/breads as a medical tax write off on your income tax. But aside from that not much help. I get food stamps but they do not take into account celiac as getting you more or even a disease that shows up on their records. I had to file on my Aspergers (autism) and ADHD myself for my RSDI and food stamps even through my celiac and corn allergy present more of a problem. >.< still will admit I can not function in standard environment for long periods of time due to the mental issues. But they have gotten better with the removal of gluten and dairy (dairy makes my autism MUCH worse).  I am getting maximum coverage of $800 RSDI and $183 food stamps a month here in texas.....does not help much with food, medications and supplements come to over $600 alone.....