Workers’ woes help fuel food-stamp surge

A skyrocketing number of Georgia families are collecting food stamps, another sign that more people are having trouble putting food on the table in these difficult economic times.

The state has generated about 10,000 new food-stamp cases a month since July, state officials said Thursday.

Georgia had a total of 468,848 food-stamp cases in October, the most recent figure available, a jump of 73,153 cases —- or 18.4 percent —- above the year before.

Because each case can include one person or an entire household, the actual number of people receiving assistance is likely higher, officials said.

In another sign of the changing times, food-stamp recipients now include not only the person who regularly turns to public assistance but also working-class families who are collecting food stamps for the first time.

“These people have had some success in life. They have maybe six months of savings,” said Sharon Maddox, who manages support programs, such as helping people apply for food stamps, for the St. Vincent de Paul Society of North Georgia. “They don’t have much of a cushion.”

Advocates say they are seeing car salesmen, carpenters, factory workers and office workers turning to food stamps.

Mark Washington, the head of the state Division of Family and Children Services, which manages the food-stamp program, said Georgia’s sour economy —- with its rising unemployment and rampant foreclosures —- will probably continue to push higher the number of people receiving food stamps.

The food-stamp program is the state’s major anti-hunger initiative, and in October, Georgia distributed $130 million in food stamps, officials said.

Georgia largely mirrors the national picture.

The economic crisis has brought the number of families relying on food stamps to an unprecedented 31.6 million, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Radames Colon is among those asking for help, and he’s looking at a pretty grim Christmas.

The 46-year-old Jonesboro resident recently showed up to the job he has held for 11 years with the city of Atlanta, and instead of sending him to pick up debris off the streets, management handed him a termination letter.

Atlanta plans to cut about 600 jobs this year and slash many city workers’ hours.

Worse for Colon, his fiancee, who lives with him, was laid off from her job as a sales manager at a call center about a week earlier.

Colon had already spent much of his approximately $4,000 in savings during a largely unpaid medical leave for an enlarged heart problem. Now the bills are hitting hard, and he’s a month behind on the rent and the car payment, he said.

So he has applied for food stamps.

“Things are bad now. That’s what drove me to food stamps,” Colon said. “Bills come fast when no money is coming in.”

The hard times have radically altered their priorities. His fiancee, Iris Pinkney, had wanted to move so she could take her teenage daughter out of the Clayton County school system, which lacks accreditation. Now they have more pressing concerns.

Pinkney said she used to have an automatic paycheck donation to the United Way and volunteered during the holidays for the Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless events.

“Now I’m a person who needs their help,” she said. “We may be standing in line at Christmas.”

Food stamps are among the broadest social-service programs in that they do not, as other services do, serve only the elderly, or families with children or the disabled. In most cases, a person must be a U.S. citizen and a resident of Georgia. The program is managed by the state, but the benefits are paid by the federal government.

Officials said that while the benefits vary, the average amount a household receives is about $275 a month. The eligibility standards require that a household’s resources such as checking and savings accounts and savings bonds are limited to a combined value of no more than $2,000.

Some advocates worry that the management of the food-stamp program will suffer because of state budget cuts in the wake of the bad economy.

On Thursday, DFCS’ Washington announced a new program, which began late last month and allows people to apply for food stamps over the Internet.

The Compass program has already received 1,300 food-stamp applications, which, if approved, would provide benefits for 2,800 people, officials said.

The Web site is www.compass.ga.gov.

People can file an application from any computer, including libraries, food pantries and other charities.

“We’re having to do more with less,” Washington said of the combination of increased cases and budget cuts.

Staff writer Chandler Brown contributed to this article.