Milwaukee Food Stamp Stampede

UPDATE: Food assistance a matter of days
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UPDATE: County announces food aid information

The thousands of people applying for emergency food stamps under a state disaster aid program announced last week are not required to submit any proof that they suffered damage from heavy rains earlier this month, the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services said.

Applicants, including as many as 3,000 who flocked to a Milwaukee application site today, must prove only that they lived in Milwaukee County - or one of the other affected counties - at the time they were declared disaster areas, said agency director Corey Hoze.

Hoze said the memo, provided by the state last week, does not require applicants to provide proof from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that flooding occurred.

Applicants are eligible for emergency food aid, based on self-reported damage and household income. The average for a family of three would be about $400, according to Hoze, but amounts could be higher.

Translation: If you're lucky enough to have lived in a Wisconsin county at the time it was declared a disaster area due to flooding, you can get emergency food aid.

All you have to do is say you suffered damage in some way and be eligible in terms of household income.

In short, free food! No verification of flood damage required.

It should take 5-7 days for these flood victims to receive their assistance. Who will feed them while they wait?

I hope there are no riots in the meantime. The heavy rains were a couple of weeks ago. I wonder how the victims have managed to get by all this time without the food assistance.
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When rumors circulated in Milwaukee that there was going to be a free food voucher giveaway at the Marcia P. Coggs Human Services Center on Monday, thousands of people showed up.

The rumors turned out to be greatly exaggerated.

This wasn't a "free food stamps for everyone" event at all. Some people became unruly when they learned the truth.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee police said they have restored order this morning but will remain outside of the Marcia P. Coggs Human Services Center after a crowd awaiting free food vouchers - which never were to be distributed - became unruly this morning.

Police Department spokeswoman Anne E. Schwartz said Vliet St., between N. 12th and N. 13th streets, is blocked, and barricades have been installed so people are able to line up around the block of the building at 1220 W. Vliet St.

...Police responded to the building about 7 a.m. after 2,500 people lined up on the sidewalk and eventually began to block traffic in the street. A number of people had rushed the door, and some people became caught in the crush; however, there were no serious injuries, according to Schwartz.

...People had begun lining up at about 5 a.m.

As of 9:20 a.m., a large crowd of frustrated people remained.

Some said they heard of the reports while visiting food pantries over the weekend. Others said the word came through friends or others they know.

...Residents in line said they were expecting to receive immediate help, but several said they were told it would be 30 to 60 days before they received any money or credits to their FoodShare debit cards.

Yvonne Love, a mother of three children, said she heard there would be immediate help while at a food pantry Saturday. She left the scene frustrated, talking briefly to a reporter before running to catch a bus to P.A. Staffing Service, a temporary employment agency.

...At one point, 34 squad cars had been sent to the scene, according to police Lt. Anthony Boylan.

"It's bad over there, apparently," Boylan said. "They've got a lot of squads over there. Fights have been breaking out."

Information was given out that the office was giving out free food vouchers, but it was only taking applications through the Federal Emergency Management Agency for food vouchers, Boylan said.

Told of the incident in Milwaukee, a FEMA spokeswoman said the agency would not be involved with food stamp distribution and was unaware of any media reports about it in the Milwaukee area.

Eileen Force, a spokeswoman for Mayor Tom Barrett, said her understanding is that applications for general flood assistance were to be taken at the location, but somehow a rumor developed related to food stamps.

Sherrie Tussler, executive director of the Hunger Task Force, said she believed that a news release issued by Gov. Jim Doyle's office may have suggested to people that they could get food stamp aid immediately.

A news release on the governor's Web site makes clear that people who need food assistance should go to their local county to "fill out the simple, two-page application to see if they are eligible for emergency food assistance."

...According to the Department of Agriculture's Web site: "Through (the program) people who might not ordinarily qualify for food stamps may be eligible if they have had disaster damage to their homes or expenses related to protecting their homes, or if they have lost income as a result of the disaster, or have no access to bank accounts or other resources."

From 620 WTMJ:

"My mom called me this morning and told me to hop in line," a man told Newsradio 620 WTMJ. "She said the city's going to look out for us and give us three or four hundred dollars."

In reality, the event was set up to allow flood victims to apply for disaster Foodshare Benefits. The line began forming at 5am. Two hours later people began to get upset.

There are reports that some in the crowd were attempting to take the doors off the center's hinges.

...In a statement, Milwaukee Common Council President Willie Hines, Jr. said the food crisis in Milwaukee is worse than many have realized.

"We expect long lines for free food in Third World countries," Hines said in his statement. "We don't expect a line of 2,500 people waiting for food vouchers at the Marcia P. Coggs Center."

Hines urged people to donate to Second Harvest.

Watch video from TMJ4.

TMJ4 reports that "People apparently thought they could get free food vouchers, but the center was just taking names for vouchers for people with flood damage to their homes."

So word got out that free food vouchers would be available. Some thought they could get in line and come away with hundreds of dollars. When some in the crowd learned that it wasn't an immediate handout at all, they became violent, pushing, shoving, and fighting.

Whose fault was this?

FEMA had nothing to do with it. The agency isn't involved in the distribution of food stamps in Milwaukee. The disgruntled people can't blame President Bush for the confusion.

Mayor Tom Barrett didn't put out information telling people to come down and get free food. It's not his fault.

Governor Jim Doyle's office isn't responsible.

The people have no one to blame but themselves. They believed rumors. They obviously didn't get information from an official source.

Willie Hines is focusing on conditions in Milwaukee being like a Third World country.

Terrific. That's just what Milwaukee needs to boost its image. Remember, Barrett says Milwaukee is experiencing a "renaissance." Apparently, Milwaukee is a city of the renaissances and the renaissance-nots.

"The statement from Hines said he hopes 'every able organization and every able individual' will make a contribution of food or cash."

Perhaps Hines should note that some people in the massive crowd became disorderly when they learned they wouldn't be getting an immediate handout. They behaved irresponsibly.

Is this really an illustration of the extent of the hunger problem in Milwaukee?

I don't think so.

There would have been clues long before it rained. The shelves of food pantries would be bare. The pantries would routinely be unable to keep up with the enormous demand.

No. Some showed up for free stuff, plain and simple. They became angry when they didn't get it.

The unruliness is a reflection on them.
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An interesting note: Jay Olstad of TMJ4 reports that there's a lot of misinformation in the community. All Milwaukee county residents don't automatically qualify. It's flood aid.

Olstad said people do need an ID and proof of residency to get assistance. WAIT. An ID? I thought it was racist to require an ID to do things, like VOTE.