MARSHALL COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — Food stamp benefits are the lifeline for thousands of families in the state of Alabama, but thieves are stealing that lifeline one account at a time.
As many of us prepare to celebrate the Memorial Day weekend, thousands of others, like Deneise Allred, a working single mother, are trying to make ends meet.
“I have a job and I’m in college and I stay with my mom every now and then and I do what I have to do to survive,” Allred explained. “I’m not out here begging and borrowing and stealing. I’m working hard to get where I’m at.”
Allred relies on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to pay for groceries, but she told News 19 that this may be the third consecutive month that crooks have stolen her benefits money from her account.
“I spent $41 and change from it, and that following Sunday, which was two days prior, I went to get groceries, and when I got up to the register, there was nothing but .52 cents on my account. Someone from Brooklyn, New York, stole all my food stamps at 2:59 a.m.,” said Allred.
Allred demanded answers from the Marshall County Department of Human Resources (DHR) about why her food stamps keep getting stolen.
She and thousands of others were given the same answer from the state DHR: that there is nothing that they can do.
The federal authority to replace SNAP benefits expired in December 2024, but DHR released its latest efforts to combat SNAP benefits fraud, announcing a new website and a secure mobile app for clients.
“The Food Assistance Division has worked tirelessly to implement these features for our clients to continue putting food on the table and feed their families without interruption,” a DHR spokesperson said.
“They need to protect us, that’s what they are supposed to do,” replied Allred.
DHR released a statement, which can be found below:
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