This story was co-published and supported by the journalism nonprofit the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.
A missing zero put Sarah’s grocery money in jeopardy. Every month, Sarah receives $219 in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits for her and her 9-year-old. Sarah works two jobs in food service, one at a senior center and one at a banquet hall, and has relied on SNAP for support ever since her husband died unexpectedly about six years ago. But last year during her annual benefits renewal, one of her employers messed up a number on the required paperwork.
It was around Christmas, and Sarah and her daughter were about to take a long-awaited trip from Michigan to Texas to see Sarah’s mother for the holiday. That’s when the letter came. (I’m referring to SNAP recipients by their first names only to protect their privacy.) It stated that Sarah would lose her benefits if she didn’t re-complete the paperwork. Before, she had been able to call a caseworker assigned to her who could answer questions. Now, paperwork simply disappeared into a portal. She debated canceling their trip—would it be better to save the travel money to put toward food just in case? She crossed her fingers and headed to Texas anyway, and while there, contacted her job to have them correct the error. She resubmitted with a week to spare. But it was tough to get into the spirit of holiday fun when she was hiding how stressed she was from both her daughter and her mother. It makes you on edge, she told me, not knowing if you can protect your kid, if you can feed her, all because of something outside your control. She called it a low-grade terror: “You know how that feels, right? Where you’re worried all the time, and it’s like a low burn in your chest, queasiness in the belly.”
