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© 2004, Oregon Action
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Last Updated May 10, 2004

 

Turnout exceeded expectations as 120 or so people crowded into the room to demand action on food stamps now!

Moureen Rosera, Rose Spears, RuthAlice Anderson and Kate Titus. Moureen is the chair of the food stamp committee, Rose represents OA at the NW Federation of Communty Organizations, RuthAlice is the president of OA and Kate is the Portland organizer for OA.

Primo Escobedo of Oregon Action spoke about his fear of applying for Food Stamps during a time when he was temporarily laid off for fear that would hinder his ability to bring his parents to the United States. Primo also pressured AFS to commit to supporting SM 797 - a bill that would restore benefits to legal immigrants in Oregon. Unfortunately, AFS continues to refuse to support that bill, though they did commit to supporting change in the federal law.

Michael Leachmann of the Oregon Center for Public Policy provided the facts and figures that laid the foundation for people's stories of their personal experiences.

Samantha Wattenburg of Oregon Action pressed Michelle Wallace of AFS to meet with Oregon Action after we complete our food stamp testing project follow-up.

Moureen Rosera, Chair of the Food Stamp Committee, kept the pressure on AFS, tracking their commitments.

Blanche Gardner of Oregon Action told about how the reporting requirements for self-employed recipients interfered with her ability to retain housecleaning clients. Blanche was required to submit signed letters from each of her clients documenting her income. This recordkeeping requirement irritated some clients who did not continue to employ her.

Back to Food Stamp Campaign Page.

 

 

Roger Widenoja of Rural Organizing Project brougt a stack of plates with notes from rural Oregonians demanding reform to the AFS representatives at the meeting.

Another photo of the people attending the forum.

 

Eduardo Anguilo translated as Jimmy Jimenez of CAUSA spoke about how difficult the current food stamp rules make his mother's life. She works nearly 70 hours a week, but still has trouble making ends meets for her and her four children. Two of her children were born in the US and thus qualify for food stamps, but her income and Jimmy's income working after school at Wal-Mart are counted against her children's benefits, even though they do not qualify. As a result of this meeting, this egregious rule is being changed.

Yolanda Flores, an OA member, spoke against the International Office proposal for Multnomah County. The international office would have forced all non-English speaking applicants to travel to a single office to apply, no matter how distant from their home. This would also discourage Latino Oregonians from applying for fear of INS harassment. Even before the forum, objections from CAUSA and a host of other organizations, including the coalition, forced Multnomah County AFS to back off from the proposal.

Rose Spears facilitated the meeting and kept everyone on track.