The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved North Dakota's request to run a Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to help Ward County residents affected by flooding who are not current program clients.
The program is intended to help those who experienced disaster-related losses and lived or worked in Ward County at the time of the disaster. People must apply between July 5 and July 13.
"It helps people who typically have never had any contact with SNAP, but it offers short-term help by covering about a month's worth of food costs, based on the household's size. That will certainly help to free up some resources to help people meet some of their other needs," Arlene Dura, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Director for North Central Human Services, said.
When the program was opened for applicants on Tuesday, people affected by the flood had already begun to apply.
"The response has been pretty good. We took in about 90 applications (Tuesday), and that was the first day of the program operating here. The response (Wednesday) has been pretty good as well," Dura said.
"We're wanting to get the information out there so that people are aware that this program is available, and is only available through July 13. It may change in the future depending on the need and the demand, but we don't know for sure right now," she added.
There are income guidelines for the program, Dura explained, with the USDA requiring that human services staff add up a family's net income and any financial resources that they have easy access to, such as checking or savings accounts and cash on hand. Once income and resources have been determined, flood-related expenses will be deducted to see if families meet the income limits.
"Disaster related expenses could include temporary shelter expenses, evacuation expenses, expenses for any home or business protection that was done before the flood, and expenses for having to replace necessary personal or household items such as clothing, appliances, tools, or any food that may have been damaged or destroyed," Dura said.
A family of three, for example, with a disaster gross income of $2,126 for the month would qualify for the maximum program benefit of $526.
To apply for the program, people can visit the Ward County Social Service Office at 400-22nd Ave. NW in Minot, or at other county social service offices if they have evacuated to other counties. To qualify for the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, people must provide identification and prove they lived or worked in a flood damaged area of Ward County at the time of the recent flooding.
When applying, people should bring a photo ID, utility bill or other mail with identifying information and address, or signed statement of identity provided by another person, and, if available, current paycheck stubs and receipts for disaster expenses.
Those who qualify for the program will leave the office with a specialized debit card called an EBT card that they can use at any approved grocery store or other authorized food vendor to purchase groceries.
For more information about the program, people can call North Central Human Services at 852-3552 or the state office at 1-800-755-2716, or go online to (www.nd.gov/dhs/info/flood
recovery.html).