Step 1. The Poverty Line.
They told us we’d live in poverty. We must
understand—really understand—the
hurdles that those living in poverty must leap over in order to survive. Brace
yourself, they told us, it’s going to be rough.
I didn’t and it was.
My name is Lauren Spinella and I am an Americorps
VISTA. The Americorps VISTA program is an initiative geared towards sustaining
and strengthening existing anti-poverty organizations. The people served by
these organizations live below the poverty line. As an Americorps VISTA, so do
I.
Coming from a middle-class family and a financially
stable household, I had trouble wrapping my head around the whole idea of
poverty. I had savings. I had support. I wasn’t worried.
I wasn’t worried until about two weeks in to my VISTA
term when I found myself holding up the check-out line at Publix, frantically
digging through the bottom of my purse for pennies and nickels to pay for my Poptarts
and Ramen Noodles.
Yes, I had savings and yes, I had support—but when my
car was totaled (courtesy of a reckless driver) and my home was flooded
(courtesy of Hurricane Issac), my savings were no more.
Life
happened and I was broke. I could barely scrounge up enough pocket change to
cover my $10 grocery bill and after two weeks of running on sugar and hope, I
could feel my body closing up shop.
My
wallet and body agreed: it was time to ask Uncle Sam for food stamps.
Step 2: Apply
In early September, I started the process of applying
for food stamps. The flooding had knocked out my internet access but luckily, I
could look up information online at work. The application process went as
follows:
1.
Google.com. Google Search: “I need food stamps
South Carolina”
2.
Click on: The South Carolina Department of
Social Services.
3.
Click on: Apply for benefits.
4.
Fill out a short application asking for
information on your income, rent payments, and other bills.
5.
Submit.
15 minutes later, I was
done and getting back to work. This couldn’t be any easier, I thought.
Wrong.
Step 3: Phone interview
I received a letter on October 4th asking
me to call in to the Department of Social Services to complete my phone
interview. Food stamp applicants must interview with a Social Worker to clarify
any inconsistencies in their application and further express their need for
assistance. I realized later how much this speaks to the whole process of
applying for food stamps. It is set up in a way that breaks one down when they
are asking for help building themselves up. It says, “Tell us how much you need
us. Tell us again. Beg. Grovel.” And you do.
I had until October 24th to call in for my
phone interview. With our big event Dash for Trash coming up, I barely had time
to eat lunch, let alone spend 2 hours on the phone with Social Services. Dash
for Trash was on October 20th. I planned to call in immediately
afterwards.
I didn’t get that far. On October 15th, I
received a letter saying I had missed my phone interview.
WHAT?!
I double checked the first letter. “Please call by
October 24th to complete your phone interview.” I double checked the
date. October 15th. Really?
At the bottom of the new letter, it said “Call in by October
31st. We’re doing you a favor by extending your deadline. Get ready
to do some extreme begging.” Okay, I’m paraphrasing, but that was the general
idea. The next day at work, I rushed to get the bulk of my work done in the
morning. At 3:00pm, I called in to the Department of Social Services.
“Thank you for calling. Your wait time is approximately
45 minutes.” Awesome. I put my phone on speaker and left it on my desk while I
continued working.
32 minutes into my wait, the call was disconnected.
At this time, it was a little bit after 3:30pm. The phone lines closed at 4:30.
I knew that by the time I waited for another 45 minutes and finally got through
to a representative, it would be too late to conduct the interview.
The next day, I finished my work by 1:30pm, leaving
plenty for me to call (and call back if the call was dropped) and complete the
interview. After about 45 minutes of fumbling through an automated menu and
waiting on hold, I finally got through to a human being and began the
interview. I was asked about 500
questions about my occupation, as if my story about being a volunteer through
the Federal Government wasn’t convincing enough. The whole interview process
was just embarrassing. At the end, my interviewer told me that she would be
sending me a letter listing all of the documentation she needed me to send back
in.
“Can’t you just tell me what I need to send now so I
don’t waste any time waiting for the letter?”
Nope.
So I waited.
Step 4: The Letter
About 2 weeks later, I received the letter. They
asked me to send back a copy of my lease, proof of income, and a copy of my
electric bill. I went two more weeks waiting for a letter that listed three
things? I received the letter on Monday, October 29th and had to get
the documentation in by Friday, November 2nd. One week.
Question: How was I going to take off work to drive to North
Charleston and wait on line for an hour just to hand in three papers?
Answer: I wasn’t.
I printed out the three documents they asked for
(thankfully, I have a printer at work), put them in a stamped envelope, and
sent them off to the Department of Social Services.
Steps 5, 6, and 7: Wait.
I’m still waiting to hear whether or not I will be
given food stamps. A few of my fellow Americorps VISTAs completed Steps 1-4
before I did and were told weeks after submitting their documentation that it
was never received. If they don’t receive your documentation, they ask you to
resubmit (and you do) and then, if the documentation is misplaced again, you’re
denied. Game over. Go back to start.
Lauren Spinella
Lauren Spinella
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