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Hey yall, I wanted to make a PSA about this because it’ll be useful to many of you in the United States. You might qualify for public assistance now, specifically because of rising food prices.
The federal poverty line, the biggest determining factor for public assistance, has been kept artificially low for decades because it was based on the outdated assumption that food was the primary expense for most American households. For decades now, shelter has been the larger expense, but the federal poverty limit has still been determined based on the prices of food commodities.
Because food prices have recently gone up, the federal poverty line has gone up significantly as well. This means if you were previously slightly over the income limit to qualify for public assistance such as food stamps or medicaid, you likely qualify now. I’d like to encourage everyone who thinks they might qualify to apply for these programs. The qualification cutoffs are still absurdly low, so please be assured that if you qualify for assistance, you’re not taking something you don’t need or deserve.
Please reblog this if you think your followers will find it useful. I haven’t seen anyone talking about this, it’s just something I noticed recently, so I want the info to become more public to help people who might be struggling.
Also if you’re not sure if you meet the requirements, or just generally would like support on a bureaucratic process — a LOT of food banks have teams whose only job is to help people get enrolled in SNAP/CalFresh. Check your local food bank’s website and there will be options for getting in touch if they offer this service.
I can’t speak for all US food banks obv, but at the one I work at is big on making sure you are not shamed or stigmatized for using a system you are entitled to. The teams in our area also put in a lot of effort to get people who are fluently bilingual in commonly spoken languages.
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