Food Assistance Available for Storm-Impacted Families

Food assistance is now available for storm-impacted Morris County families through the disaster-related Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program.

This onetime food benefit is available to eligible residents who experienced extreme material losses during Hurricane Irene or subsequent flooding.

In Morris County, the Office of Temporary Assistance will be processing applications Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at its office at 340 West Hanover Ave., in Morris Township, starting Thursday, Sept. 8. Individuals and families currently not receiving SNAP benefits and whose storm-related expenses include damages beyond the loss of food due to power outages may be eligible.

Individuals and families in disaster-declared areas and who are already enrolled with SNAP will automatically receive a onetime supplemental benefit based upon a federal determination of areas that lost power for over four consecutive hours, and do not need to call or visit the OTA office. The D-SNAP application process eases requirements around documents necessary to apply and weighs disaster-related costs with available liquid resources when considering eligibility. Benefits are electronically applied to a card similar to a debit/credit card for the purchase of certain food items.

Additional information may be obtained by contacting the Morris County Office of Temporary Assistance at 973-326-7240.