It wasn’t so long ago that Sandy Baker only dreamed of what she has now, a home she owns in Princeton where she lives comfortably with her daughter, son-in-law and grandbaby.
“I was working two and three jobs at a time, you know, part-time jobs, anything I could do. I was even scrubbing people’s floors for $10 an hour just to make ends meet,” said Baker.
It was 2009.
After leaving an abusive marriage, Baker and her 16-year-old daughter were suddenly homeless.
“We were couch surfing and we were staying with friends and family, just anybody. Sometimes we would stay in long-term hotels. Eventually, we were in a tent in a state park, Frisco area, Little Elm area, hidden cove, stayed in a park there and paid $10 a day for the privilege to sleep in a tent in August, how awful was that, right?” she said.
As a board member for Family Promise Collin County, Baker shares how that program and resources like SNAP benefits helped her and her daughter work their way from a homeless shelter to their own apartment.
“It’s a tool, right? But for us, it actually saved our lives,” said Baker.
Now, as more than 700,000 North Texans prepare for their benefits to expire Saturday, she worries they’ll find themselves in the situation she did before she had a permanent address.
“Prior to SNAP benefits, our budget for food was $12 every two weeks for two people. That equals .85 cents a day for two people, so we had to get really creative. We went three, four, five times a week to Costco and Sams to eat the samples there. That was our food,” she said.
“I think it’s going to be pretty tough. It’s going to be pretty tough, especially with the cost of food rising,” said LaVeeta Hamilton.
Hamilton is Family Promise’s executive director. She worries most for the nine families that have graduated from the homeless shelter this year and are in the process of rebuilding their lives.
“I’m not even thinking about the holidays. Right? You have to think about that child who’s coming home from school now, and if they are experiencing any medical issues, if they are diabetic, they can’t get the healthy snacks that they need now, because mom and dad can’t afford this food,” she said.
Nearby, Community Lifeline food pantry told NBC5 it’s working to increase shipments of food by Monday through grocery store partners, saying it’s already seen an influx of people.
Advocates like Baker and Hamilton say community support will be crucial.
“It’s so much more prevalent than people want to know,” said Baker.
Hungry? In need of food?
If you’re hungry and need nutritious, free food, you can call 2-1-1 for the latest information on the SNAP program and find alternative food resources from area food banks, food pantries and other community resources.
If you need food and live in Bosque, Cooke, Denton, Erath, Hamilton, Hill, Hood, Johnson, Palo Pinto, Parker, Somervell, Tarrant or Wise counties, search the Tarrant Area Food Bank website for food pantries.
If you need food and live in Collin, Dallas, Delta, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hopkins, Hunt, Kaufman, Lamar, Navarro, or Rockwall counties, search the North Texas Food Bank website for food pantries.
If you need food and live elsewhere in Texas, Visit the Feeding Texas website to find your local food bank and food pantries.
SNAP benefits nationwide and in Texas
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