Snap Campaign
Reaching Out
How the Coalition is helping immigrant families put food on their tables.
Less than half of all U.S. immigrants who are eligible for food stamps (SNAP) actually receive them, according to the USDA. That figure is particularly troubling in Philadelphia, home to the second-hungriest Congressional District in the nation .
NY TIMES: Once Stigmatized, Food Stamps Find Acceptance
After a U-turn in the politics of poverty, food stamps, a program once scorned as “welfare,” enjoys broad new support.
By JASON DEPARLE and ROBERT GEBELOFF
[Note from the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger: Although 400,000 people in Philadelphia now receive food stamps (SNAP), there are still 150,000 more residents who qualify but are not enrolled in the program. If you know someone who needs help buying groceries, tell them to call the Coalition's Food Stamp Hotline: 215-430-0556]
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Philadelphia-area district 2nd hungriest in U.S., study says
Pennsylvania's First Congressional District is the second hungriest in the nation. Coalition Executive Director Carey Morgan calls on government officials to enact sound policies to help end hunger.
BY ALFRED LUBRANO
Pennsylvania's First Congressional District - which includes Chester, South Philadelphia, and parts of North Philadelphia - is among the hungriest in the nation, according to a report released yesterday.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Letter to the Editor - Food stamps’ value
The Coalition Against Hunger emphasizes value of food stamps as a part of the economic stimulus package.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
As Congress grapples with the challenge of jump-starting the economy, out-of-work families and seniors struggle to keep food on the table, and both The Inquirer and Gov. Rendell have launched high-profile food drives. Food donations do have an immediate impact, and the city's 500 community-based cupboards will welcome the help. But political and business leaders also should be pressing for a temporary increase in food-stamp benefits in the economic stimulus package.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: S.E. Pa. health survey shows worrisome signs
Hunger is a matter of public health. New survey finds that one out of every 10 households in Southeast Pennsylvania has had to skip or cut back on meals.
BY DON SAPATKIN
More than one out of every 10 households in Southeastern Pennsylvania - and nearly one in five in the city - has had to skip or cut back on meals for lack of money, according to a new survey that also found worrisome signs in several measures of public health.
The prevalence of chronic conditions - diabetes, high blood pressure, and adult obesity - continues to inch upward. Roughly a third of women are still not getting recommended cancer screenings.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Letter to the Editor
The Coalition Against Hunger calls on Gov. Rendell to lift the hiring freeze on Department of Public Welfare.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
You reported Gov. Rendell expects the stimulus bill to be sufficient to help Pennsylvania "avert deeper budget cuts and layoffs." Above all others, the Department of Public Welfare must benefit from this investment.
The stimulus legislation also includes a boost in food-stamp benefits. The timing could not be better. But with enrollment dramatically higher and continuing to climb, public-welfare offices in every county can barely keep up with the new applications.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Caseworker shortage delaying food-stamp applications
With food-stamp applications at an all-time high, state working hiring freeze leads to unnecessary denials in applications.
BY ALFRED LUBRANO
More people need food stamps than ever before, but there are fewer state workers in Pennsylvania to process the claims; this may result in applicants missing out on benefits, according to anti-hunger advocates.
Research by the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger shows that a major problem for people eligible for food stamps is communicating with their caseworkers at local offices of the state Department of Public Welfare.
PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Pa. broadens eligibility for food stamps
More families in need will be eligible for nutritional assistance now that the Pennsylvania Department of Welfare has raised the gross income limit for food stamps.
BY ALFRED LUBRANO
Javina Brown, who makes $9.75 an hour working for Boston Market, applied for food stamps in June but was denied. Her salary was $4 a month too high.
As of this week, however, Brown and others like her will be eligible for food stamps. For the first time in nearly 30 years, Pennsylvania has raised the income limit for the program.
"It's a blessing," said Brown, 32, who lives in South Philadelphia with her 10-year-old daughter and will get an estimated $360 a month in food stamps.
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE REVIEW: Eligibility for nutritional assistance expands in Pennsylvania
Coalition Food Stamp Campaign Manager Rachel Meeks comments on the state's decision to raise the income limits for SNAP from 130 percent of the federal poverty line to 160 percent.
BY CRAIG SMITH
Bonnie Frederick tried to get food stamps last year, but her $9.50-an-hour pay from a packaging company put her monthly income $3 over the limit.
But new guidelines, put in place July 27 by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, make Frederick, 61, of North Versailles and her husband Gary, 62, eligible for food stamps, they learned this week.
"I'm a couponer, and I cook. We don't eat out a lot," Bonnie Frederick said. "We eat a lot of chicken. It will be nice to have some pork."