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A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats: Why Investing in SNAP is Good Economics
SNAP is more than a safety net program; it’s an economic powerhouse. In our latest blog post, we take a closer look at the economic case for investing in SNAP and what the research tells us about its impact beyond the grocery store.
Why Assisters Belong in Advocacy
Assisters sit at the intersection of direct service and systemic change. We are the ones hearing firsthand the struggles of families trying to put food on the table. We saw the frustration of seniors navigating complex SNAP applications. We recognize the barriers—whether it’s confusing paperwork, language access issues, or outdated eligibility rules that do not reflect today’s economic realities. And because we see these challenges up close, we are uniquely positioned to advocate for change.
Lived Experience: A Case for Removing Barriers to SNAP for College Students
When I was in college, I didn’t have a dining budget. My parents didn’t put funds onto a college meal plan card so that I could eat lunch at the dining hall, and I didn’t have any sort of college savings set aside. I had SNAP.
I grew up in poverty, and my parents never made it above lower-middle class, so I was mostly on my own through all three of my collegiate attempts. First, in Portland, Oregon, I worked as a barista to get through one semester of part-time classes at Portland Community College. SNAP helped me feed myself during this time, but life had other plans for me, and I dropped out after my first semester.
Reflecting on Human-Centered Design in SNAP
Over the past decade, there has been a notable shift towards human-centered design in public benefits programs. Technology barriers are being re-evaluated by organizations like Nava, Civilla, and Code for America, to name a few. Thanks to these and other partners, advocates have a blueprint and field guide to apply human-centered design to digital benefits nationwide.
However, this looks at only one aspect of benefits enrollment - the digital experience. Our current view of human-centered design often focuses on technology and web design, but human-centered design should be applied everywhere, because everything is designed. City planning is a great example of this....
Black Agricultural Resistance, A Legacy that Persists
Fannie Lou Hamer’s life experiences inspired generations of Black agricultural resistance in Atlanta and beyond. Ms. Hamer was a sharecropper and domestic worker on the Marlowe Plantation for 18 years before she led a group of Black Mississippians to the state courthouse to apply to register to vote. She returned to an ultimatum from her employer, “either withdraw her application for voter registration or be fired…”