VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Residents in Volusia County impacted by hurricanes Helene and Milton may be eligible for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as D-SNAP.
According to a news release, about 407,733 households in 24 Florida counties are estimated to be eligible for the USDA’s food assistance program.
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Volusia County is the only Central Florida county eligible for the program as of this writing.
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Applications for those in Volusia County will be accepted by phone Nov. 12 through Nov. 15. Officials also plan to take onsite applications over a three-day period. The exact date and location has not been announced yet, but it will take place at some point between Nov. 16 through Dec. 15.
Officials said that in order to be eligible for D-SNAP, a household must live in an identified disaster area, have been affected by the disaster, and meet certain D-SNAP eligibility criteria. Eligible households will receive one month of benefits – equal to the maximum monthly amount for a SNAP household of their size – that they can use to purchase groceries at SNAP-authorized stores or from select retailers online to meet their temporary food needs as they settle back home following the disaster.
“USDA is committed to making sure that families, farmers and communities impacted by recent hurricanes get the support they need, including help with grocery expenses as people grapple with significant disruption to their lives,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “The Biden-Harris Administration, including USDA, will do everything in our power to help you respond, recover and rebuild – no matter how long it takes.”
According to the release, current SNAP households are not eligible for D-SNAP, but the USDA has also approved Florida to automatically issue supplemental SNAP benefits to current households that receive SNAP benefits in the identified counties to bring their allotment “up to the maximum amount for their household size if they don’t already receive that amount.”
Other counties in Florida eligible for the program include Columbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lafayette, Levy, Madison, Suwannee, Taylor, Wakulla, Charlotte, Hernando, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Sarasota, Citrus, Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough and Lee.
For more information about this and other available aid, callers from Florida can dial 2-1-1 or visit Florida’s Division of Emergency Management.
For more information about Florida SNAP, visit the Florida Department of Children and Families.
As soon as ClickOrlando learns more about the phone number and address for onsite applications, we will update this story.
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