ASHEVILLE - Applications for Food and Nutrition Services, formerly known as food stamps, are up approximately 1,000% in Buncombe County since March 26, according to county officials.

The heightened demand for food assistance mirrors staggering unemployment numbers as COVID-19 wreaks havoc on the finances of tens of thousands across the state and millions across the nation.

"We were averaging about 10-15 applications daily prior to the (county's Stay Home, Stay Safe) order and...and are now averaging about 150 applications daily," Phillip Hardin, Buncombe County Economic Services Director, told the Citizen Times.

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Food and Nutrition Services includes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program.

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Unemployment: only 35% of applicants have received payments

From March 15-April 19, over 672,000 North Carolinians applied for unemployment benefits, according to the NC Department of Commerce.

The Division of Employment Security's website and phone lines have been overwhelmed by the deluge — widespread issues with the online application portal crashing and long helpline wait times persist despite the DES tripling its staff and adding more servers to support web traffic.

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Just over 237,000 North Carolinians who applied for benefits since March 15 have received payments, according to the NC Commerce website on April 20.

That means 65% of North Carolinians who have applied for unemployment benefits since March 15 have yet to see a dime.

Food stamps for survival

Without unemployment relief on the horizon, many local families have turned to Food and Nutrition Services out of necessity.

Rebecca Tallent Crouch is a self-employed Candler resident. She won't be able to apply for unemployment under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) until NCDES makes changes to their system — which they anticipate won't be until about April 25.

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How long it will take for the state to approve or deny her application after that is unclear.

Crouch said she found Buncombe County's FNS application comparatively painless.

"It took less than a week (to process) and I had my card within two weeks," Crouch said, referring to the electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card that recipients use to spend their benefits at stores — mostly at Ingles, in her case.

"My intake worker also said applications were way up and they were swamped," Crouch added.

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How to apply for food stamps

To learn what benefits you may be eligible for and apply, NC residents can visit epass.nc.gov. Buncombe County residents can reach the local Health and Human Services Department at 828-250-5000 with questions on eligibility and the application process.

Do you have an important Food and Nutrition Services story to share? Are you having problems applying for or accessing your benefits? Reach out to reporter Elizabeth Anne Brown at eabrown@citizentimes.com with the subject line "Reader Food and Nutrition Services tip."

Elizabeth Anne Brown is the trending news reporter for the Citizen Times. Reach her at eabrown@citizentimes.com, or follow her on Twitter @eabrown18.

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