 Dear friends and neighbors,
As we head into the holidays I wanted to take some time to talk about the resources available (below) for anyone facing food insecurity. We know that nearly 700,000 people in Washington don’t have consistent access to enough food for everyone in their household. Last session we passed legislation to help meet the need left by reduced federal funding, we expanded free school meals to 90,000 additional students, and removed barriers for college students to access basic needs like food, water, housing and childcare. We invested $95 million in food assistance programs, $81 million for refugee supports, and $44 million to fund an increase for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and other cash assistance programs. We also invested $19 million in TANF for diaper subsidies and a time limit extension. This is good work, but there’s more to do next session. In the meantime, if you or your family would be helped by any of these food or cash assistance programs, I have more information below. |
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To learn more about temporary assistance for needy families (TANF) click here.
To learn more about food assistance (called Basic Food in Washington, also known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP) click here.
To apply for either/both TANF or Basic Food, or other state assistance programs, click here.
To learn more about food banks in Pierce County click here. To find your closest food bank click here. (This includes Nourish Pierce County food banks, you can find more information about their food banks and what to expect here.)
To sign up for home delivery of food assistance click here.
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I also wanted to pass along a reminder that the House Page Program has started accepting applications for next session. This is an opportunity for students ages 14-17 to come to Olympia for a week and learn more about how our state legislature works. Students page for one week at a time, attending a Page School to learn more about the legislative process and supporting the operations of the House during floor action and with other daily tasks. Pages also receive a stipend for their time and can earn community service hours.
You can learn more about the program here, and apply for the page scholarship here. Interested students should complete an application as soon as possible – the 2024 session only runs for 60 days and the first pages will serve the week of January 8-12.