Turning to food stamps difficult for some

Tonya was living the American dream.

The mother of a 10-year-old daughter, she had a steady job at a property management company while her husband was a sanitation worker for a major company in Richmond.

"We were middle class. We were working so hard," Tonya said last week.

She's relying on food stamps now.

It all began to fall apart 10 months ago. Her husband lost his job, then two months later, she lost hers.

Tonya is among thousands in the Richmond area who have fallen on hard times as the economy crashed, leaving many out of work and dependent on food stamps. The federally funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is part of their safety net.

Tonya asked that her last name not be used to avoid embarrassment to her family. The Richmond Department of Social Services verified her situation.

She was at the social-services office last week trying to increase her benefits to include her 17-year-old niece, whom she is adopting. The teen moved from New York last year, and Tonya is trying to prove that the girl now lives with her in Richmond. The girl is registered to receive assistance in New York.

Tonya turned to food stamps about six months ago to help feed her family.

"I never thought I'd have to do it, but I have to take care of my family," she said. "I can't let them starve."

As the economy has continued to sink and unemployment rolls grow, an increasing number of Americans are turning to the government for help buying groceries.

Nationwide, the number of households receiving food stamps in April jumped 21 percent, compared with the same month a year ago, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the program. About 33.7 million people nationwide now receive food stamps.

In Virginia, the number of households using the program was 26 percent higher last month from the same month a year earlier. That works out to more than 550,000 people receiving food aid statewide. Some Richmond-area localities, including Henrico and Chesterfield counties, saw increases of 40 percent or more. The increase in Richmond, where food-stamp use is historically higher, was 18 percent.

"We have seen a lot more people coming in," said Josephine Myers, the city's deputy director of social services.

But the big change, she said, is who is coming through the door. Most of the new applicants are people who have never been through the system.

"It's tough for a lot of folks," Myers said. "They come in here and they are very emotional because they've never had to do anything like this. They've worked all their lives, and now they've lost their jobs and need to feed their families."

The average family receives about $300 a month in food-stamp assistance, but that varies depending on income and other situations.

Tom Steinhauser, director of the benefits program for the Virginia Division of Social Services, said the increase in the number of people using the program is largely due to job losses and other changes in people's financial situations. That's also caused a demographic change in who applies and gets assistance.

"We're seeing people we wouldn't have seen before," he said.

To adjust for the increased demand, Congress earlier this year raised the amount of money it gives the program. Over the next five years, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will see an increase in benefits of about $20 billion. It added about $80 a month for a family of four, according to the USDA.

States will get $300 million for administering the program, with Virginia receiving $5.3 million over two years.

In all, the USDA has $53.9 billion allocated to the SNAP program in fiscal year 2009.

But need is not the only thing fueling demand. Experts say a destigmatization of food stamps has driven some of the change.

Steinhauser said changing from food stamps to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was a good first step and helped eliminate some of the negative connotations associated with food stamps. The USDA began calling it by the new name in October; in Virginia, it will change this year.

But the biggest change has been offering benefits on EBT cards, which are similar to debit cards. EBT stands for Electronic Benefit Transfer. They were introduced in 2008.

Customers no longer have to tear stamps out of coupon books at grocery registers to pay for food. Now, they slide the card through the machine, like a debit or credit card.

"I think there are a lot of reasons why the food-stamp program has become more acceptable," said Farnoosh Torabi, a personal finance expert and author of "You're So Money." "Certainly one of those reasons is that you don't have to go to a checkout line with your ugly stamps."

"There is an embarrassing feeling that comes with that, that makes you feel like you are automatically identifying your economic level at the grocery store. People don't want that."

Torabi cautions that before signing up for food stamps, people should find out if they qualify and that they are able to use them.

While an increasing number of stores are accepting food stamps, some still don't.

"You need to figure out if there are enough places close to you that accept them," she said. "You don't want to go on the program and then not be able to go to a store in your neighborhood."

Tonya agrees.

"Research it. Talk to someone," she said.

But, she added, people should not hesitate to take advantage of the program if they need it.

"You can't worry about what someone will say or think," Tonya said. "You have to look out for your family, especially when children are involved."

Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or .