Today in class Nick Claussen, the Community Relations Coordinator at Jobs and Family Services in Athens, Ohio, came to speak to our class. He discussed the SNAP program and its benefits to the community. There were two points that Mr. Claussen brought up that really interested me. He wants the employees of public service jobs to be more personable, and more benefits to the recipients of the SNAP program.
Think about when you go to the store, or the bank, or the bookstore, is the worker friendly and conversational or are they monotone and robotic? Mr. Claussen asked us what it's like when we go to the grocery. It's something that you don't think about a lot, when you're just going through the motions of shopping or your job. He wants people to be more personable because he realizes that a lot of the people he talks to on a daily basis just want to tell their story and to be heard. This is something I will work on and think about more in my daily life.
Another thing Mr. Claussen said that we don't really think about is that he wants more cash and food benefits to be provided to those on the SNAP program. I think most of the time we try to take away some of the benefits that people receive. But in reality, the benefits are what is keeping them alive. Without them, they wouldn't have the basic necessity we need to live; food. He also pointed out that statistics show that the EBT card actually positively stimulates the economy. Before we take something away from someone, we need to really think about how it will affect their life.
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