SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – The Florida Department of Children and Families announced in-person Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) locations will open for the weekend at Oviedo Mall and the Volusia Ocean Center.
The Oviedo Mall site will operate from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. starting Friday, Nov. 4, through Sunday, Nov. 6, for applicants to complete face-to-face interviews for the food assistance D-SNAP seeks to provide. At the Ocean Center, a site will be open from Saturday, Nov. 5, through Monday, Nov. 7, during the same hours.
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Current SNAP recipients are not eligible for D-SNAP and should not visit the site, DCF said. Those who were approved for D-SNAP over the phone should expect an EBT card in the mail and should not show up either, a news release states.
The Oviedo Mall site is only for people who live or work in Seminole County, just as the Ocean Center site will only take Volusia County applicants, DCF said.
“We’re expecting upwards of 11,000 people possibly per day,” said Seminole County emergency management director Alan Harris. “Hopefully, people have pre-registered online and that will expedite you getting through here.”
The Seminole County location will have more than 500 employees on site.
“If you have already (registered) or pre-registered, you have already gone through the phone interview process, the card is already coming to you, you do not need to come here,” Harris said. “This is for individuals that have been denied, this is for individuals that did not know about the process.”
DCF will further open D-SNAP locations in each county that has been approved for the program, the release states.
The program has previously been launched in phases across multiple counties at a time following the destruction of Hurricane Ian. Recently, a third phase of the D-SNAP program was opened on Oct. 24 for Lake, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties.
Phase one began on Oct.10 and included Polk, Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Lee, and Sarasota counties.
Phase two began on Oct. 17 and included Orange, Flagler, Highlands, Manatee, Pinellas, and St. Johns counties.
In general, to qualify for D-SNAP benefits, the following conditions must be met:
- Applicants must NOT be receiving regular SNAP benefits.
- Applicants must have been living or working in a disaster-declared county at the time of Hurricane Ian.
- Applicants must have suffered a disaster-related lost such as: Damage to their home(s) or self-employment property, loss of food, reduction or loss of income or other disaster-related expenses.
- Applicants must meet financial eligibility requirements.
To view the D-SNAP schedule by county and to see details on how to apply, visit MyFLFamilies.com/DSNAP.
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