Severe Food Benefit Cut Needs Your Urgent Help

Hello, my name is Alan, and I have created this GFM campaign to request your urgent help to address an immediate and critical financial need due to the virtual elimination of our family’s SNAP (food stamp) benefit and to help my disabled spouse remain at home.

Jon is a profoundly disabled person and we live in a rural area north of the Seattle area. He has multiple disabling conditions including a slow-progressing variant of ALS called PLS, an inherited primary immune deficiency, epilepsy, diabetes, arthritis, and chronic pain. After an extended five-year stay in skilled nursing care, Jon returned home in early 2021.

Since that time our family received the maximum SNAP benefit available to our family size due to regulations associated with the declared federal COVID Public Health Emergency (PHE). DSHS is the state agency that manages the SNAP program in Washington state. We were recently notified by DSHS that because of the ending of the PHE, beginning in March, our food benefit would be slashed from $506.00 per month to $13.00.

Because of the complexity and scope of care that Jon requires, I am unable to work except as Jon’s unpaid caregiver. So, we have struggled to survive solely on Jon’s monthly Social Security Disability payment. In most months we only have $50-100 left after paying household bills and purchasing the OTC medications and supplies that Jon requires and that are not covered by insurance. With the full SNAP benefit amount, we were just able to make ends meet. However, the loss of nearly $500 of monthly food benefits is beyond our ability to cope, given our very limited financial resources.

While I have been able to provide excellent care for Jon at home, the loss of essentially our entire food benefits has created a severe sense of food insecurity in our household. Without any help with this critical financial need very soon, Jon may have to return to skilled nursing care simply because I will no longer be able to afford to continue to care for him at home. The outrageous thing about this situation is that, while the state is refusing to budge on providing $6,000 per year in SNAP benefits, it is willing to pay $375,000 per year in skilled nursing home costs if Jon returns to institutionalized care!

While my stress level and anxiety have increased dramatically because of this, it is even more troubling to see that Jon is so stressed by our financial situation and his very real fear of being forced to return to skilled nursing care. Jon’s care and quality of life are so much better at home, but we urgently need your help in facing this crisis to help him remain at home.

Please help if you can. 100% of the funds raised through this campaign will be placed into a Special Needs Trust for Jon and will be used to help pay for food or Jon’s uncovered medical needs. A portion of any funds raised above our campaign goal will also be reserved for the purchase of a disability-accessible vehicle to allow Jon trips out of our home. This is another of our unmet long-term needs.

Even if you cannot help financially, please share this GFM campaign with your circle of family and friends as well as on your social media. Helping to spread the word of our need and to help Jon stay at home is so very much appreciated! Thank you for your kind consideration of this request.