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Highlands Today

Food Stamp Use Soars In County

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By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

Published: February 6, 2009

SEBRING - Among the alarming numbers from last year's economic downturn are the number of people who now need food stamps to put dinner on the table.

In Florida, that number jumped from 1.4 million in December 2007 to 1.8 million - 29 percent more.

It's even worse in Highlands County: 7,785 families were on public assistance in the previous year, and 10,253 in Dec. 2008 - a 31.7 percent rise.

Those numbers don't surprise Richard Reinhardt, executive director of Highlands County Coalition for the Homeless. Applications for housing assistance are even higher.

"Oh, 40 percent in the past year, very easily," Reinhardt said.

The big reason why?

"Unemployment," he said. In December 2007, Florida's unemployment ratewas a healthy 4.7 percent. Only 441,000 were looking for work, and the state was boasting it had added 85,800 jobs in the previous year to a labor force of 9.3 million.

Time flies. In December 2008, there were 9.6 million in the state's workforce; 655,000 were out of jobs, and the unemployment rate was 7 percent. In Highlands County, the unemployment rate staggered from 5.3 percent to 8.8 percent in one year.

It's The Economy

The bad economy is the reason why the dollar amount of food stamps rose 51 percent during the year, from $715,000 to $1,079,000, said Liesta Sykes, community relations manager at the Sebring office.

"These are not the customers we saw before," said Sykes. "They lost individual income recently due to layoffs and shutdowns."

Others were dogged by the inflationary economy: milk, orange juice, peanut butter, everything was going up. The price of gasoline soared from $2.60 to $4.15 in a year.

"People need it right away," Sykes said. "They're desperate for help when they come into the office. You have more families coming in with no income."

And then there are the working poor.

"They just can't find a higher paying job," Reinhardt said, "so they need help with mortgage and rent."

His office has enough assets to help the first 10 people who apply each month. "But we get calls every day."

Some just started receiving Social Security. If they gross less than $1,127 per month, with no other income, they are eligible for food stamps.

"It's getting worse," Reinhardt said.

Apply Online

Remember those images of people standing in line, waiting to apply for food stamps, or to collect a check?

"ACCESS - Automated Community Connection to Economic Self Sufficiency - was launched in 2005 with the hope of providing more access to individuals who were likely eligible for public assistance but did not apply," said Carrie Hoeppner, a spokeswoman for the Department of Children and Families in Orlando.

"We found that potential applicants did not have the time to apply, or did not feel they would be eligible. And some simply would not walk into a public assistance office to ask for help," Hoeppner said. "Today, nearly all of our applications are submitted online."

The Department of Children and Families has 30 days to process food stamp applications. Those in need of emergency food should consider local food pantries.
Food stamps are a form of assistance, Hoeppner said, to help ensure that families have balanced and nutritious meals.

More info: 866-762-2237

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Source: Department of Families and Children

Highlands Today senior reporter Gary Pinnell can be reached at gpinnell@highlandstoday.com or 863-386-5828

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