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Queens Seniors on Food Stamps
Up 31% Since 2008
By
Vera Chinese, New York Daily News
May 21, 2012
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Credit: Bruce Cunningham, New York Daily
News
Bernice Lisbowitz, seen here raising her
hand at a Queens Interagency Council on
Aging meeting on Wednesday, said rising
food and housing costs caused her and her
husband Larry (left) to apply for food
stamps in 2010. The number of seniors
receiving food stamps in Queens has
increased by 31% since 2008.
Food stamps weren’t something
that Bernice and Larry Lisbowtiz of
Bayside ever considered until they were
well into their golden years.
But the octogenarian couple, who once
owned a sporting goods store in
Brooklyn, said rising food costs and an
increase in their co-op maintenance fees
had them seeking supplemental income.
“We’re on a fixed income,” said Bernice,
81. “It’s like we were forced” to seek
government assistance.
The number of New York City residents
over the age of 65 receiving benefits
through the food stamp program, also
known as the Supplemental Nutritional
Assistance program, has increased 30%
during the Great Recession.
In 2008, about 204,000 city seniors
received food stamps. That number
swelled to 266,000 in 2011, according to
data provided by the city Human
Resources Administration. In Queens, the
number rose 31%, from 47,704 in 2008 to
62,447 in 2011.
Meanwhile, advocates for seniors have
been working to make sure the elderly
know what’s available to them and how
they can get it.
And they’re also encouraging seniors put
their pride aside to get the help they
need.
“People are not really aware of what’s
there and many of the people who are
eligible are not applying,” said Maria
Cuadrado, president of the Queens
Interagency Council on Aging.
The Lisbowitzs, who attended a meeting
hosted by Cuadrado’s organization on
Wednesday, said it was repeatedly
suggested at similar forums that seniors
apply for food stamps.
One thing seniors should keep in mind,
advocates say, is that eligibility
requirements are slightly more lax for
the elderly. And their net wealth isn’t
counted against them.
“We’re not going to ask how much money
you have in the bank,” Syed Ferdaus of
the Human Resources Administration, the
agency that oversees the program, told
the room full of seniors at the QICA
forum.
The process to obtain the benefits
should soon be a bit easier as Gov.
Cuomo has promised to stop the city’s
practice of fingerprinting recipients,
the Daily News reported Thursday.
Another challenge advocates face is
making sure seniors opt for
nutrient-packed foods rather than cheap
eats with high calories.
“Maintaining a healthy diet is very
important, especially as you age,”
Angela Sinclair of the city Department
of the Aging’s nutrition unit told the
room full of seniors.
She encouraged seniors to “eat the
rainbow” — choosing colorful fruits and
vegetables over processed foods.
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