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With the economy still trying to recover from the dismal state it found itself a few years back, low income households need all the help they can get. It seems that everyday, more and more families start joining the underprivileged income bracket. Just trying to meet the basics like food and rent can seem like an impossibility to deal with for a lot of these families, especially with some of them not even being accustomed to dealing with this kind of situation.

Over the past 35 years, the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program or SNAP, formerly known as the food stamp program, has been around to provide assistance to these families who are challenged with obtaining the basic needs, especially food. The recent change, means that benefits are no longer actually provided through physical food stamps, but through an Electronic Benefit Transfer card. This card is similar to an ordinary debit card, in that you can go into any grocery store and purchase certain kinds of foods through this card.

Of course, with these changes, even households that have long taken advantage of this program might not necessarily understand how to apply for these benefits. To begin taking advantage of SNAPS, one first needs to determine if they qualify for the program. Visit your nearest welfare office to do this.

Only the unemployed or underemployed will be able to qualify for these benefits, so if you don’t have a job or work at a job with a low income, you will have a good chance of qualifying for the program. You will need to submit certain documents along with your application form, which include your proof of income, 4 of your most recent payslips, savings account and other bank account statements, and the social security numbers of everyone in your household. After submitting your application for food stamp benefits, you will have to wait at least 30 days as your application is reviewed for approval.

Keep in mind that even if you are accepted into the program, you will still be reevaluated every 6 to 12 months to determine if there has been any change in your household’s income. Once you receive your EBT card in the mail, you will need to activate it before you can begin using it. You can do this simply by calling the number in the letter that accompanied the card, similar to they way it is done with typical debit cards. Also, try to find out the exact date when the benefits will be loaded so you can learn when you can actually start using the card.