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TOPIC: "The Safety Net: Living on Nothing but Food Stamps" (NY Times 1/2/10)


Diamond

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"The Safety Net: Living on Nothing but Food Stamps" (NY Times 1/2/10)
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"

Living on Nothing but Food Stamps

Published: January 2, 2010

CAPE CORAL, Fla. — After an improbable rise from the Bronx projects to a job selling Gulf Coast homes, Isabel Bermudez lost it all to an epic housing bust — the six-figure income, the house with the pool and the investment property.

Now, as she papers the county with résumés and girds herself for rejection, she is supporting two daughters on an income that inspires a double take: zero dollars in monthly cash and a few hundred dollars in food stamps.

With food-stamp use at a record high and surging by the day, Ms. Bermudez belongs to an overlooked subgroup that is growing especially fast: recipients with no cash income.

About six million Americans receiving food stamps report they have no other income, according to an analysis of state data collected by The New York Times. In declarations that states verify and the federal government audits, they described themselves as unemployed and receiving no cash aid — no welfare, no unemployment insurance, and no pensions, child support or disability pay.

Their numbers were rising before the recession as tougher welfare laws made it harder for poor people to get cash aid, but they have soared by about 50 percent over the past two years. About one in 50 Americans now lives in a household with a reported income that consists of nothing but a food-stamp card.

“It’s the one thing I can count on every month — I know the children are going to have food,” Ms. Bermudez, 42, said with the forced good cheer she mastered selling rows of new stucco homes.

Members of this straitened group range from displaced strivers like Ms. Bermudez to weathered men who sleep in shelters and barter cigarettes. Some draw on savings or sporadic under-the-table jobs. Some move in with relatives. Some get noncash help, like subsidized apartments. While some go without cash incomes only briefly before securing jobs or aid, others rely on food stamps alone for many months.

The surge in this precarious way of life has been so swift that few policy makers have noticed. But it attests to the growing role of food stamps within the safety net. One in eight Americans now receives food stamps, including one in four children.

Here in Florida, the number of people with no income beyond food stamps has doubled in two years and has more than tripled along once-thriving parts of the southwest coast. The building frenzy that lured Ms. Bermudez to Fort Myers and neighboring Cape Coral has left a wasteland of foreclosed homes and written new tales of descent into star-crossed indigence.

More . . .

Inserts:

Food Stamps, and Nothing Else

Food stamp programs in 30 states and the District of Columbia provided data on the number of recipients who had no other cash income in 2007 and 2009. These numbers reflect not only the economic conditions in various states, but also the extent to which food stamp recipients qualify for other safety net programs, such as welfare or unemployment compensation.

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More . . . Including year-over-year change (%) by State.

Food Stamp Usage Across the Country

The number of food stamp recipients has climbed by about 10 million over the past two years, resulting in a program that now feeds 1 in 8 Americans and nearly 1 in 4 children.
Interactive Graphics



Florida situation


Full Article with all links
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It is a devastating economy.

NY State's overall numbers are at 99% but outside of NYC, the rate is SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER.

Percentages alone do not tell the full story. Look at the table and the numbers. Florida and New York State have had the HIGHEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE added into numbers that were already the highest.


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Added:  If you or someone you know is without cash income and has resisted seeking help from this safety net, know that the Safety Net is there for a reason.  Please go seek the support from the system.


-- Edited by Sanders on Monday 4th of January 2010 11:08:43 AM

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Platinum

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It is really bad here in Florida. I don't get how that woman with two kids keeps her electric on.

It is really hard to apply for food stamps here. The phone number is always busy, it is hard. Just so many applying.

People try to apply for assistance but it has gotten almost impossible.

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Moderator

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I told an elderly woman in the doctor's office, since she had her SSI cut, to go and apply for food stamps. She sounded disgusted at my suggestion, but maybe she talked it over with
her children.

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Diamond

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The only thing embarrassing anymore is not feeding the family. Never forget that the Safety Net is funded by our taxpayer money and it is there for a reason -- to provide safety if certain conditions occur. And, if they do, go get help. It is not something to be ashamed of anymore.

Just ask them to take a look at the map!!

Talking of this situation, why has the media not talked about this?

Please blog about this heavily all over the place.. and call in to C-SPAN and talk shows!

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Democracy needs defending - SOS Hillary Clinton, Sept 8, 2010
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Administrator

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Cash Assistence is a joke.  She's more then likely not on cash because she didn't name the kids dad or didn't want them all in the business.  I don't blame them they want a bunch of information for only a few hundred dollars a month.
Food stamps are a blessing and when they do your paperwork correctly can help out a great deal.
Sometimes I have to go without food so my daughters can eat.  That's just reality.  The food banks also are a great resource.  Hunger is no joke and it happens more then you think.  Middle class people both black and white are more afraid of welfare and ashamed.  There is nothing wrong with losing materials and that is what our tax dollars should go for these folks are also more likely to get off as soon as possible.is what I tell people because honey ain't nothing worse then an empty stomach Don't be ashamed


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Platinum

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My mom gets government surplus food every month, its like cheese and peanut butter and stuff. She said the lines of new people applying went down the sidewalk and literally circled the building and went back down the sidewalk. Mostly 20 somethings with babies. Food stamps don't last an entire month, if in fact you can get them. Mom gets $700 a month total from Social Security and Veterans. She gets $15 a month in food stamps. They think 700 a month is enough to support a family of one. You can't pay rent, utilities, car insurance, Medicare Part d which comes out of her check at $135 a month, it can't be done. Congress needs to take a look at the line in the sand they draw defining the Federal Guidelines of Poverty and readjust it to something reasonable and sane.

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Diamond

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jdona,

Every time I hear Rep.Boehner say "Individual Responsibility" I wonder what's going to happen to our less-than-wealthy who are unable to keep up with the cost of living inflation and the pace of the economy.

I fully expect that both Houses work TOGETHER so we do not decimate the lives of the people who have little to no choice given the circumstances of their lives and this horrible economy. If the only thing that the pubs care about are the bottomlines of businesses, that is not going to fly.

__________________
Democracy needs defending - SOS Hillary Clinton, Sept 8, 2010
Democracy is more than just elections - SOS Hillary Clinton, Oct 28, 2010

Madam Secretary Blog at ForeignPolicy.com
Project Vote Smart - Stay informed and engaged!
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