News Release Listing
Contact: Chris Case, (360) 902-7892 ,
chris.case@dshs.wa.gov
July 23, 2012
Food benefits on the way to Ferry County
OLYMPIA – With power out to more than 2,500 homes following a storm, Ferry County residents are in need of access to Basic Food (SNAP) benefits, cash and medical benefits.
To promptly authorize the benefits, the Department of Social and Health Services has dispatched a mobile Customer Service Office to Keller.
Ferry County officials and Colville Tribes requested assistance from the state, after a Friday storm that downed trees, power lines and phone lines, and killed one person at a campground.
Most of the county will be dealing with the effects of power outages for next few days.
The Washington State Emergency Management Division will assist the area, as will the Red Cross, which established a command center in Keller Community Center. In addition, the Department of Social and Health Services is dispatching a mobile Customer Service Office.
The mobile office is fully functional and is equipped with all the amenities found in any of the 62 stationary Community Services Offices across the state. The office includes a wheelchair lift, semi-private interview areas, a reception area for two to four persons, and a sun shade for people to be protected from the elements.
The mobile offices have trained eligibility specialists who can accept and process applications for Basic Food (SNAP), cash and medical benefits, conduct eligibility interviews, verify eligibility factors, process changes to current recipients benefits, authorize and issue EBT cards, and authorize benefits to approved households, frequently on the very same day.
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DSHS does not discriminate and provides equal access to its programs and services for all persons without regard to race, color, gender, religion, creed, marital status, national origin, sexual orientation, age, veteran’s status or the presence of any physical, sensory or mental disability.
