Unlike everybody else who contacts the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Watchdog, Bob of Fort Worth doesn't want my help. He only wants everyone to understand the horrible state of Texas’ food stamp program.
Bob, who doesn't want his last name used because he is afraid of getting into a fight with the government, is 78 and lives with his wife on $500 a month from Social Security.
Two years ago, they qualified for food stamps. But the credits on his state-provided electronic debit card — worth about $200 a month — ran out in May.
So what does he do?
"Potatoes are like a dollar for 5 pounds," he said. "So we eat a lot of potatoes. If they've got a sale on something — for instance, if regular lettuce is a dollar and a half a head, and they have a sale for 75 cents, we'll make salads out of lettuce. We find the bargains on something and we'll eat that this week."
Since May, Bob has been trying to get ahold of someone at the state Health and Human Services office on East Lancaster Avenue in Fort Worth to help him re-qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — a requirement to make sure recipients still need it.
"We sent all our papers, and we kept calling, and they kept putting us off. You couldn't get anybody down there. Nobody answers the telephone. They had about a dozen people working down there helping people, checking and rechecking them."
Read the complete story at star-telegram.com