Community Bulletin
Foot and ankle pain no longer means a long drive. Vandalia Health Foot & Ankle now treats patients in four central West Virginia towns — Buckhannon, Cowen, Elkins and Philippi — part of the network long known as Davis Health System. Read more →
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Upshur County residents who took losses in the July 21 storms and flooding have until 6 p.m. Friday, September 25, to apply for disaster food benefits at the West Virginia Department of Human Services office at 34 Auction Lane in Buckhannon.
Since applications opened Monday, the department has provided disaster food aid to 86 households with 348 people across Lewis, Upshur, Ritchie and Pleasants counties, it said Wednesday. D-SNAP, the Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, pays out a single month of food benefits to qualifying households that had losses or expenses because of the disaster. My Buckhannon reported September 9 that residents of the four counties could qualify.
Of those households, 25, with 60 people, were not on SNAP when the storms hit and received D-SNAP benefits. The other 61, with 288 people, were already on SNAP and received a disaster supplement.
“If you experienced disaster-related losses and have not yet applied, there is still time to do so before the Friday deadline,” said Carl Ayers, cabinet secretary of the department.
The Buckhannon office and the other three county sites are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The department said most requests are processed the same day, and eligible households may receive benefits within a day of applying.
Applicants new to SNAP have to sit for an in-person interview, so their applications can be handled on the spot. People already on SNAP can skip the interview and request the disaster supplement with a form, turned in either in person or by email.
Applicants should bring:
- A photo ID
- Proof they lived or worked in one of the four counties at the time of the storm
- Proof of income received in the 30 days before applying
- Proof of assets, such as checking or savings account statements
- Records of disaster-related expenses, if they have any
The other application sites are the Division of Highways office at 131 Highland Drive in Weston; the Department of Human Services office at 220 West Main St. in Harrisville; and the Department of Human Services office at 1655 South Pleasants Highway in St. Marys.
Questions about D-SNAP or disaster supplements can go to the department’s Office of Constituent Services hotline at 1-877-716-1212. More information is at bfa.wv.gov.
