Job and Family Services ready to help needy, provide food

Food stamps will replace what was lost due to a power failure.

staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Department of Job and Family Services stands ready to help people who suffered losses due to Sunday’s high winds and the resulting extended electric power outages.

Mahoning County residents seeking storm-related emergency assistance are advised to appear in person at JFS offices, 345 Oak Hill Ave., said Emmaline Adams, JFS program administrator.

Food stamp customers, whose food spoiled in their refrigerators or freezers due to a power failure, must obtain a letter from Ohio Edison, the American Red Cross, their local fire department or a community agency verifying that the outage lasted more than four hours.

Applicants are asked to bring such a letter along with photo identification to JFS when they apply. They will receive food stamps to replace their lost food. Some $55,000 is also available in each Ohio county under a federally funded program known as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. This assistance is available to homeowners with disaster-related loss or property damage up to $1,500 per family. Applicants must have dependent children under age 19 and meet income guidelines.

Also available in each Ohio county is $11,000 worth of federally-funded assistance to elderly and disabled homeowners, who can receive a one-time payment of up to $750 each. Recipients must be at least 55 years old and without minor children and must receive payments from federal or state disability programs, black lung benefits or railroad retirement disability.

The food stamp emergency application deadline is next Thursday.

The application deadline for the other programs is Oct. 17.

To date, Mahoning County JFS has received 48 applications for storm-related food stamp assistance from all over the county, but none under the other programs.

“We’re doing this as fast as we possibly can because we know these people are in need,” Adams said of JFS’s response to applications for emergency help.

Gov. Ted Strickland declared a storm emergency in all 88 Ohio counties based on Sunday’s winds and power outages.