AUSTIN –Texas Health and Human Services announced today that it will extend hours at the Polk County site where victims of Hurricane Harvey can apply to receive disaster food relief.
In addition to the previously announced hours, residents of Polk County will be able to apply Monday, Sept. 25 and Tuesday, Sept. 26 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.at this location:
Polk County
707 N. Tyler Ave., Livingston
Livingston Municipal Library
Sept. 18 to 23, Sept. 25-26
Note: Library closed Sunday
The extension of the hours is to ensure Polk county residents have an application period and opportunity to apply for D-SNAP that is comparable to other counties.
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 all currently approved D-SNAP sites, go to www.hhs.texas.gov/d-snap to find days and hours of operation. More counties will be announced soon.
For detailed instructions and updates, go to www.hhs.texas.gov/d-snap.
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.
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 selection 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 (link is external) or call the Lone Star Help Desk at 800-777-7EBT (800-777-7328).
Twitter: @TexasHHSC