Sue Waldin, Verdant Health Commission program manager, shared a letter she received April 17:
I volunteer as a homeless advocate and met a man at a hot meal program who asked me to help him. He had woken up to find his wallet had been stolen from his backpack. It contained his EBT Card (with $90 left to buy food for April) and his state issued ID. He was frustrated and angry because he has no phone and the places he knew to ask for help were all closed due to COVID-19. I offered to call DSHS and find out how he could get an EBT replacement card.
I called the Customer Service Line today and expected to be on hold for a while given all of the changes in services with the COVID-19 Crisis. In less than 10 minutes, I had a very knowledgeable and compassionate staff person who walked me through the steps to help this individual who has multiple barriers to access services in the best of times.
With a little luck, I will find this gentleman at a meal program this weekend to give him:
- Hope and the acknowledgement that he matters -- even if he is homeless
- A workable plan that the Call Center Staff helped me figure out to get a replacement EBT Card to this individual using a case worker at a Hygiene Center who can call and set up an appointment for the client to pick up the card or to have the client agree to have the case manager assigned as an authorized rep to pick up the card on his behalf.
The person who answered my call today really did make a difference and I wanted to say THANK YOU to her and the many others at DSHS who are working to address the growing food and financial needs in our community during the COVID-19 Crisis.
Waldin ended her email, “With gratitude for the tireless work of your organization these days.”
