AUSTIN – Texas Health and Human Services announced today that it will roll out disaster food relief for victims of Hurricane Harvey to residents in Harris County starting Friday, Sept. 22.
Texas has been rolling out D-SNAP in a phased approach and is expanding to Harris County in coordination with local officials. Harris County sites will run through Oct. 5.
“We’ve been working closely with local officials to fine tune sites that work for people who are trying to put their lives back together after this terrible storm. We want this to be as smooth as possible for them,” said Texas Executive Commissioner Charles Smith. “Houston was hit hard. We’re so pleased to be able to roll D-SNAP out to the people of Harris County.”
Texas will offer D-SNAP at three sites in Harris County. This is in addition to the 18 counties previously announced. More counties will be announced soon. The Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as D-SNAP, provides short-term food benefits for eligible families recovering from a disaster.
For information on D-SNAP sites, go to www.hhs.texas.gov/d-snap to find days, hours of operation and detailed instructions. Applications are being taken based on a rolling alphabetical order. People will need to apply on certain days depending on the first letter of their last name.
Harris County Sites
Greenspoint Mall
12300 North Freeway, Houston
Southwest Multi-Service Center
6400 High Star Drive, Houston
Pasadena Convention Center
7902 Fairmont Parkway, Pasadena
Alphabetical Rollout Details
Date Last name
Sept. 22, 27 A – C
Sept. 23, 28 D – H
Sept. 24, 29 I – M
Sept. 25, 30 N – R
Sept. 26, Oct. 1 S – Z
Oct. 2 to 5 Anyone
D-SNAP is available to eligible people who are residents of one of the counties with a federal disaster declaration and weren’t receiving benefits through regular SNAP at the time of the disaster. Recipients will be given a Lone Star Card that will be loaded within three days with funds to purchase food from most grocery stores.
Residents of the affected counties may be eligible if they suffered damage to their home or business, loss of income or disaster-related expenses. Disaster-related expenses can include home repairs, temporary shelter or evacuation expenses.
Households must bring identification when applying for D-SNAP. Common types of verification include a driver’s license or other government-issued photo identification.
Eligible households will receive two months of benefits when their cards load. The benefit amount is equivalent to the maximum amount normally issued to a SNAP household of their size, within three days of applying.
If families have been displaced from one of the counties with an active D-SNAP program and cannot travel back to their home county, they can go to any local HHS benefits office across the state to apply for D-SNAP during the dates designated for their counties.
People who purposely provide wrong information to receive disaster benefits may be denied benefits, and legal action may be taken against them.
More Information
People with questions about D-SNAP, including those who have special needs, should dial 2-1-1 and select option 6. For other storm-related services, including shelters, dial 2-1-1 and select option 5. For questions about TANF, Medicaid or CHIP, dial 2-1-1 and select option 2.
To check benefit amounts, recipients can visit YourTexasBenefits.com or call the Lone Star Help Desk at 800-777-7EBT (800-777-7328).
Twitter: @TexasHHSC