Civic Participation and Community Action Sourcebook

Section Two

Pushed Too Far:
Poor Women Defend Their Food Stamps

by Beth Bingman, based on the writings of Sharon Kimberlin

Ann is a student in a community-based adult education program in St. Charles, Virginia. She is also the mother of three children, two in school and one still at home. Going back to school has not always been easy, but she wanted to make a change in her life. She took the opportunity to attend an Even Start program that had a pre-school program as well as adult education.

St. Charles is a small coal-mining community with many of the problems typical of Appalachian communities – high unemployment, poor housing, isolation from the decision-makers in the county seat. But St. Charles is an active community, and people have come together to establish a community clinic, a community center, and to rebuild the town. Ann was aware of some of these efforts, but with three small children, she had not really been involved. She did try to help her neighbors, especially the older couple next door. At Christmas she took her children to the party at the community center and volunteered to help out.

When she started back to school Ann’s goals were to pass the GED test, and to get out of the house. She also hoped the daycare program might help her youngest get ready for school. Ann thought of herself as shy, and going back to school was a big step. But she soon found herself taking bigger steps than she ever imagined. In October, Ann came to class and found the other women talking about a notice several of them had received in the mail telling them to come to the county seat to pick up their food stamps in person. Stamps would no longer be mailed.

The teacher asked the class what they might do about this situation. They made a list of what they wanted to know. They decided to invite an attorney from legal services to the class, but they also began to find answers themselves. Several class members called the Department of Social Services. One class member called her Board of Supervisors member. Ann did not call anyone except to ask when to come pick up her stamps. She was afraid she might lose her stamps altogether if she made trouble. But she did decide she could help get information. She visited everyone who lived on her road and asked if they had a way to get their stamps. She wrote down what people told her and took this information back to class.

The next week when she had an appointment to pick up her stamps, Ann got a ride to the DSS office. When she arrived, there were dozens of people in line. And there was one of her classmates interviewing people. Ann was amazed. She would never have the courage to do something like that! But she admired her friend and was anxious to talk to her to find out what she had learned.

When the class met the next day they put together the information they had gathered. They learned that the local DSS office had decided to stop mailing stamps to two communities because too many people in those areas had reported their stamps stolen. More than seven hundred people were affected, and many people had a difficult time picking up their stamps, due to no transportation, poor health, and lack of information about what they needed to do. The class members wrote essays telling about their situations and what they had learned.

Ann wrote her story, telling about her bad back and the pain she had standing in line. She did not mention the embarrassment, but she felt that, too. The next month she went back to pick up stamps on a cold, wet November day. As she took her place in line, she realized that just ahead of her was an older woman leaning on a cane and wheeling a portable oxygen tank. All the embarrassment Ann felt was replaced by anger. How could they treat anyone that way?! The woman made it through the line, and so did Ann. When she went to class the next day, Ann told what she had seen. She got the telephone number of the Board of Supervisors and called. She called the local welfare board. And she called the DSS office. Later, she registered to vote.

A few weeks later, two days before Christmas, the local paper carried an article saying that the Department of Social Services had reversed their decision because it “had created a hardship on many families.” The stamps would be mailed again. The St. Charles class did not receive any official notification of the change, but they knew that they had made a difference. They had written, called, collected information, and taken action. They now knew the welfare board members who had supported the decision to require people to pick up their stamps. And they knew who had appointed them and when the next election would be. Ann has registered to vote.

Reprinted with permission from the Center for Literacy Studies, Equipped for the Future Project Report to the National Institute for Literacy, July 1996.

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