11:06:58 test test test.
11:06:58 >>
11:07:37 >>  In addition, we serve all disability types, including intellectual and developmental disabilities, so in order to find our centers for independent living, we have a website that I want to share with you, this is DN Michigan.org and you can Google disability Michigan, and you will find the website if you don't find the address.
11:07:59 At the top, we have a locater.  There are two ways to access.  One is using the CIL directory, you will see a map here, you can go and look on the map by what region you are representing, so if you're for example in the Lansing area, you go to region nine and that is disability network of capital area.
11:08:12 You will see the web address as well as phone number.  Even though the offices are not being staffed in person, these numbers do work and they will get you to a person.
11:08:41 You may need to leave a message, but somebody will call you back as soon as possible.  So I want you to know during these times we're practicing safe workplace measures and not working in our offices, but that doesn't mean we are not here to support you.  The other way is to go on to CIL Bi-County.  You can see all the counties in Michigan.  You click on it.
11:09:13 Use Inghan county for example and you will find disability network capitol area.  So going back to the map, so this map, you can see all areas are covered by a Center for Independent Living.  They may not have an office in your county, but they do cover your county and provide information and assistance in every county in the State of Michigan.
11:09:22 So, Tedra, I'm ready for questions if anybody has any specific questions about disability network Michigan and the supports we offer.
11:09:35 >>  Tedra:  Sarah, can you talk a little bit about the specifically what disability network can do to help people find food in their area?
11:10:11 >>  Sarah:  Yea.  So if you are struggling to get access to food that you need, we -- you can call our numbers, so use the website, find your local Center for Independent Living, call that number and explain to them that you are struggling to find food.  And that you need help.  And they will probably ask you a few questions about where you live, what specifically you need, and once they will get some basic information, they're going to look at the resources that are available in that communi
11:10:40 And find resources for you.  We specifically have received funding from the federal government under the CARES act, specific to Covid relieve.  And so our centers are geared up and reread EE to help people find necessary resources in their community, food being an important element to that.
11:10:44 >>   Inaudibl.
11:11:01 >>  -- the.
11:11:04 >>  So, is that you, barb, that was talking?
11:11:06 >>  Yea.
11:11:11 >>  SAR A.  I missed the beginning part of what you said.  It was kind of rattly.
11:11:30 >>  The address on the website for the -- for the capital area is wrong.  They moved.
11:11:40 >>  Sara:  You're right.  Thanks, Barb, that's a good catch.  I need to update the website to reflect that.  Thank you, I will get that changed right away.
11:11:52 >>  Barb:  I think that they -- I think that's the address.
11:12:00 >>  Sara:  Yes, their address is wrong.  Their phone number is correct.  But the address is wrong.  I will get that updated right away.
11:12:03 >>  Sara, can you repeat the comment?
11:12:17 >>  Yea, the comment that barb made was that the address I had for disability network capital area, which is the center that covers Inghan county, which is the example I used, actually has the wrong office address.  They moved.
11:12:24 And so although the phone number's correct, I need to get the address corrected.  And on our website.
11:12:25 >>  Barb:  Yea.
11:12:29 >>  Sara:  Thanks, Barb, good catch.
11:12:30 >>  Okay.  Good to see you.
11:12:40 >>  Good to see you as well.
11:12:45 >>  Tedra, you're on mute.  We can't hear you.
11:13:02 >>  Tedra:  Thank you, Sarah.  Are there any questions for Sara about supports that disability network in your area can provide in helping you find food or access food?
11:13:11 >>  Tedra, we have a question in the chat from Blossom. .  And they're asking how can we find food for people who have food allergies.
11:13:37 >>  Sara:  So again, I would recommend that you call your local Center for Independent Living, and discuss your specific needs with them.  And they will work in tandem with you to find solutions on how to find food for people that have food allergies.  I recognize that sometimes the food banks have more -- may not have the wide range of food that's needed.
11:13:53 But centers for independent living are very innovative and creative on how they solve problems.  And I would imagine that you should be able to find the resources you need by calling them.
11:13:54 >>  Sarah?
11:13:57 >>  Sara:  Yes.
11:14:01 >>  Tracey are there any questions or comments on Facebook?
11:14:09 >>  Not at this time.
11:14:11 >>  Well, thank you, Sara.
11:14:17 >>  Sara:  Thank you, and I'm staying on so if there are questions that emerge, I will be available later.
11:14:22 >>  Tedra:  Thank you, we'll do questions for every one at the end.  For all our speakers.
11:14:25 >>  Sara:  Thank you.
11:14:27 >> TEDRA JACKSON:  There is another question in the chat, Sarah.
11:14:56 >>  Sara:  The question was did all the CIO's receive the CARES act food boxes.  Our centers did not receive food boxes per se.  They received funding to make sure they had adequate resources to help consumers in their community that have disabilities that qualify for services to be able to help them out to find resources for food.
11:15:07 >>  So Sarah, what kinds of programs are people -- like how are they doing those things? How is that really being implemented at the CIL level?
11:15:42 >>  The Sara.  The the support for Covid related needs? That's a great question.  And unfortunately I probably don't have a solid enough answer for you today.  I will in the next couple weeks if you want to circle back.  Our centers just received funding last week.  So they received their funding and now they're receiving technical guidance on how they can use those funds.  So in general, an individual that needs support from a Center for Independent Living.
11:16:15 Needs to have a disability, has to be a significant disability.  And they have to develop an independent living plan.  And so in order for us to support the consumers that need assistance with food, we actually have to develop plans with them.  I know that may seem like an added step.  However, that is the federal guidance regarding CARE SECHLT act.  That doesn't mean though that you can't call up our information and referral services and just ask for resources for food.  But if you need us .
11:16:26 Specifically to send, or spent significant time with you, to help you secure food, then we need to develop an independent living plan.
11:16:29 >>  Tedra:  So are they making plans with new people?
11:16:56 >>  Sara:  Yes, so this will be somebody that's impacted by Covid, somebody that has medical conditions that make them at a higher risk for Covid.  So if you are even for example if the stay at home order has been lifted, people that have more of a compromised health condition may not be going out.
11:17:19 And so isolation is going to continue for some people.  And so making sure that you use your Center for Independent Living to call and talk about all of the needs that you have, not just food related, but just all the needs you have, are you connecting with people out in the community through technology? Do you need help finding technology?
11:17:36 What are you doing to prevent depression from social isolation? There are all kinds of questions and issues that we're going to be tackling with consumers that need help related to Covid.
11:17:37 >>
11:17:46 >>  Tedra we have a question from Angela from DDI in the chat.  She asked how is independent living plan defined? The word independent has so many definitions.
11:18:12 >>  Sara:  Right.  So in regards to centers for independent living, independent is defined as full participation in the community, equal access.  Living independently is possible.  And economic self-sufficient ist see.  These are all parts of the Americans with Disabilities Act as LT tenets of that.  So independent is defined that way in regards to independent living plans.
11:18:35 So an individual can come to our center and if they're eligible for services, which to become eligible, all you need to have is a significant disability and just declare that have you a disability.  You don't need to provide any documentation whatsoever on your kiss disability.  An independent living plan is developed with the consumer.  The consumer is the driver of that plan.
11:18:59 And so if the consumer comes to us as they need help with food and transportation, they're going to -- that will be the goals that we put into the independent living plan.  They might also need other services and supports, but we only put into the plan what the consumer wants in the plan.  Very similar to persons under planning and a lot of the values surrounding persons under planning.
11:19:09 So it's about what the consumer feels that they need to do, what goals they want to set to be as independent as they want to be.
11:19:29 >>  Tedra:  You mentioned isolation and you mentioned accessing technology which I know doesn't have anything to do with food.  But if someone wanted to be able to use technology or to obtain some kind of technology, would someone from the Center for Independent Living be able to help them learn how to use it?
11:19:59 >>  Sara:  Yes.  So we partner with Michigan Disability Rights Coalition, which is the recipient of the assistive technology program grant in Michigan.  And so all of our centers have staff that can help people assess what type of technology they may need.  And teach them how to use that technology.  It could be hardware technology or it could be software technology.  But we are here to help with all of that.
11:20:19 >>  Great.  Thank you, Sara.  Are there any additional questions for Sara? And we'll gladly circle back with you in a couple weeks once the plans for implementation at the CIL's become more clear, because that's a great resource for people to have in the future.
11:20:36 >>  Tedra, somebody just typed in the chat, they wanted me to repeat the organization that we partner with.  It's Michigan Disability Rights Coalition.  They have the assistive technology program in Michigan.
11:21:01 >>  Tedra:  Great, thank you.  Our next speaker is Sherry king.  Sherry works for aging and adult services administration for the Michigan Department of Health and human services, and she is going to talk with us about resources for caregivers and people with disabilities over the age of 55.
11:21:20 >>  Sherry:  Thank you.  Yes, our network has -- we're a lot like the, what Sarah talked about, only for persons with, who are 60 and over, or caregivers who are 55 and over.
11:21:48 We have 16 area agencies on aging that cover the entire state.  The smallest is the Detroit area agency on aging, which covers Detroit, Highland Park, Hamtramck, Harper woods and the Grosse Pointes, and the largest agency is region 11, which is the upper peninsula, so it covers the entire upper peninsula.
11:22:28 Most of the area agencies work very closely with their centers for independent living to make sure that people get the services they need.  So the area agency services, again they're information and referral.  We have a large meal program, home delivered meals and congregate meals.  We provide in-home services.  We provide, right now with our disaster funding, which is also CARES act money and families first money, we are able to provide grocery pick up.
11:23:17 Pharmacy pick up, so we can do some of the gap filling services that people may be missing out on.  We can work with Uber and Lyft to get people transportation if they need to go to a doctor's appointment, or we have in-home care folks who can help with the technology if they have a Tele-health issue.  So in the area of nutrition, obviously the nutrition sites, the con gregant meal sites are closed, so persons are either on home delivered meals, or they are going to where the meal.
11:23:58 Site was and they're able to pick up frozen meals or shelf-stable meals, generally one to two week's worth that they will pick up.  We also have a MDHHS website has a portal on it that persons who are in need of food, who don't know about the area agencies, can put a message in that portal, that e-mail portal, and say they would like to receive a call and then some food.  So then those, that information is transferred to the appropriate area agency on aging.
11:24:19 We have purchased 10,000 what we call Q boxes or KWARN teen boxes from the food bank council of Michigan, and those boxes have been given out to the AAA's and then they can provide those boxes.
11:24:51 It's a 20 meals, it's a new Trish us, they're nutritious meals, the contents are determined by a registered dietician, so those are given out to persons who may not currently clients of the area agency and then the area agency can help decide whether or not those folks will become permanent home delivered meals clients or not by an assessment.
11:25:20 So you can access those, and again it's for caregivers and persons 60 and over, you can access those services by calling the area agency on aging or going to the portal on the MDHHS website.  And entering your information.  Let's see.
11:25:49 Oh, like I said, they can also do some of the wrap around services of helping people get, for some of the services that people can order groceries over the phone.  Or online.  And they can pay for them.  Then someone from the area agency, they have lots of volunteers that can then go and pick up that food for the person and take it to their home.
11:26:14 So the area agencies are working very hard to make sure the older adult does not need to leave their home for anything.  They're trying to make sure that they're able to stay within their home because the age is putting them into another risk category.  And they may already be in a couple of risk categories.  So we're trying to keep everyone inside for as long as possible.
11:26:46 We're also working on getting some grant funding from -- we did get some grant funding from consumers energy for more Q boxes and we're working with the Ralph C Wilson foundation out of the southeast Michigan to get additional Q boxes to be distributed, the Ralph C Wilson boxes will go to southeast Michigan, and then consumers energy boxes will go to other parts of the state.  And then we are also.
11:27:06 Working on getting funding for another 10,000 that would serve the whole state.  So we continue to look for funding sources to continue to put out the Q boxes to get to persons who are 60 and over or caregivers 55 and over.
11:27:23 And again, the area agencies do work closely with the CIL to make sure that if we have someone that may be served by both agencies, that they're getting everything they need.
11:27:55 The AAA's area agencies on aging, also are what we call waiver agents.  So if you're participating in the my choice waiver, then you would call the area agency on aging, or if you think you might qualify for the my choice waiver, you can give them a call and they can do an assessment, and that does cover persons 18 years of age and older who do have disabilities.
11:28:22 So you can call them, and again, they will do a lot of the same services as the -- as provided for people 60 and over.  They do information and referral.  They do person centered planning.  They work with the clients to get them the services they need, so again, that would be another source of food accessibility.
11:28:56 They have a couple of other -- their home delivered meals programs also include what's called moms meals.  It's a company that -- it's kind of like Nutri system, where they send you the meals, and then you add the produce and dairy, you would purchase that and add it to the meals.  So those are available to the waiver clients as well as some of the home delivered meals.  So there's a few options if you're a waiver client.
11:29:32 Versus if you're just a -- if you're a person who's using the area agency services because you're 60 and over.  So there's a little bit of differences.  However, with the disaster funding, the administration for community living, which is the federal agency, has given us a lot of waivers.  So we are able to provide more services and gap filling services than we were before.
11:29:40 So if -- I'm available to take questions if anyone has any specific questions.
11:29:45 >>  Sherri, I have a question, what is the definition of caregiver?
11:30:05 >>  Sherri:  Anyone who is taking care of someone, family -- person who is taking care of a friend or family member who has a chronic illness or a disability.
11:30:12 >>  Tedra:  Thank you.
11:30:21 >>  Sherri:  And Tedra, are you able to get that tri fold brochure out to folks, or is there a way to post it?
11:30:38 >>  Tedra:  We will post a link to it on our Facebook, and we will also send it out with the notes.  And I also just typed the -- the website for AASA in the chat for folks.
11:31:01 >>  Sherri:  Great.  And folks can go to the website or they can use the tri fold that Tedra will be sending out to locate by county, and you can look at which area serves your county and you can give them a call.
11:31:18 >>  Tedra:  And is there criteria or eligibility, or is it just available for anyone that calls and says I'm 55, I'm taking care of my son that has a disability, and then you can just come pick up the food box?
11:31:49 >>  Sherri:  60 and older or 55 and older and thank you for mentioning that, we do also serve kinship care, which is persons 55 and older who are taking care of a relative 18 years of age and younger, so like grand parent raising grandchildren, so yes, we do not ask for any kind of documentation, just like Sara mentioned.  You don't have to have any kind of medical documentation or anything like that.
11:32:21 It's just 60 and older or 55 for caregiver.  And that will be done by just asking your age.  So there's no -- there's no proof.  And anyone 60 years of age or older can contact the area agency so if anyone on the call has friends who they know are older who may be just not knowing where to call or who to contact, they can go ahead and contact the area agency on aging.
11:32:29 >>  Tedra:  I have one more question.  You mentioned grocery pick um was available at the area agencies on aging.
11:32:29 >>  Yes.
11:32:31 >>  Tedra:  How does that work?
11:33:05 >>  Sherri:  If a client contacts, for example, I will use Kroger because they're in our area.  The program where, you know, you order your groceries on line, and you pay for them.  THERN what the area agency will do is have a volunteer, and all the volunteers are background checked and they have to go through training.  So the volunteer could then go to the grocery store or the pharmacy, and pick up those groceries or the pharmacy items or personal items.
11:33:46 For the person and then take them to their home.  Now I do understand, Anna will probably get into this, but I understand that Walmart also will take the bridge cards for grocery pick up.  At least as of a couple weeks ago, they were the only retailer that was doing that with the bridge card.  But if a person can pay for their groceries, with a credit card, then the agency can help them get the groceries from the store to the home.
11:33:56 >>  Tedra:  Thank you.  So I'm opening the floor now for questions for Sherri.
11:34:04 >>  We have a question from the chat from Connie.  And they're asking is there a specific training program for the volunteers?
11:34:18 >>  Sherri:  Yes, each of the area agencies has training programs for the volunteers.  They're done in a variety of different ways.
11:34:27 >>  And I have a question from Facebook.  Todd has asked how is there help with transportation?
11:34:58 >>  Sherri:  Again, each of the area agencies has a different protocol or way they do transportation.  But they do all offer transportation services, so the person would just need to call the area agency and request transportation services, and then the AAA would work with them to find an appropriate service.
11:35:01 >>  Thank you.  Any additional questions? Patti?
11:35:07 >>  Yes, we have a question from Melissa asking what the qualification of kinship care are.
11:35:52 >>  Sherri:  It would be a family member taking care of another family member who is 18 years of age or less, so a grand parent raising a grandchild, an aunt or uncle raising a niece or nephew.  So it's akin, somebody who is part of the family who has taken on the responsibility to raise another family member.  And again, they don't have to prove any kind of -- they don't have to prove any kind of adoptive or genetic relationship with that person.
11:36:01 >>  Tedra:  I have one more question about the grocery pick up.  So is grocery pick up available at all the AAA's?
11:36:22 >>  Sherri:  I am not 100 percent sure.  That would be something that the person could call and ask.  It's allowable for all of the AAA's.  I'm just not sure all of them have the volunteers available to do that or the system put together to do that.
11:36:40 However, I'm pretty sure that all of the AAA's, if someone called and needed that service, if the AAA didn't provide it, they would, through their INA programs would help them find a way to get that done. .
11:37:01 >>  Tedra:  Great.  Thank you.  Are there any other questions for Sherri? Great, thank you, Sherri.
11:37:01 >>  Yes.
11:37:16 >>  Tedra:  Our next speaker, it's two people that are going to be speaking kind of together.  Dawn Opal and Anna.  Dawn, have you joined us?
11:37:20 >>  Yes, I have.  Good morning, everyone.
11:37:22 >>  There you are.
11:37:25 >>  Dawn:  Hi.
11:37:27 >>  Tedra:  Hi.
11:37:35 >>  Anna, I know is in here as well.  I can't pin two people, so you guys will switch.
11:37:43 >>  Yes, I can start and then if you could switch it over to Anna in just a minute, that would be great.  Thank you.
11:38:21 So my name is dawn Opal and I work at the food bank council of Michigan, which is the trade association that KOORDZ NATS support and advocacy for all of the feeding America food banks in the State of Michigan.  So I am going to talk a little bit about what food banks and pantries can do for you.  And then I'm going to turn it over to Anna, our Snap out reach coordinator and she will talk more specifically about DHHS and SNAP.  But she can talk about lots of other programs.
11:38:44 And services.  She add vices clients on a daily basis to locate food and other services in your service area.  So, I'll start by talking about food banks and pantries and also about other places where you can receive food in your community.  And if you have any questions, just feel free to just continue to put them in the chat.
11:39:01 I'm going to share my screen to start with.  I think I can do that.  Here, yes.  And then you probably, I don't know if you can see -- what do you see when you look at me? Do you see me or do you see the family well-being guide?
11:39:05 >>  We are seeing the guide and we see you off to the side.  You're fine.
11:39:26 >>  Perfect.  Okay.  So this is a family well-being guide.  I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet.  I will put the link to this in the chat.  Just really quick.  There's all my stuff that we'll be looking at.  Maybe I can't.  Let's see if I can stop the share for just a second.  I will put this in the chat so everyone can have it.
11:39:55 Okay.  So the document is right, the link to the document is right here and I'll put the file in there when I stop talking as well.  But the document itself has -- let's see.  It has a lot of different resources that might be useful to you, but the reason that I put it in here is that it has a food and nutrition section.  And the first one is about the school meal pick up program.
11:40:21 So if you have -- if you have dependents in your home who are younger than 21, you can pick up school meals at a school meal pick up site.  And if you click on this link here, it will take you to a map where you can identify where they're distributing through a grab and go distribution model, food under the summer food service program.
11:40:57 So your dependent does not need necessarily to be attending that school.  You just need to have identification to -- for a dependent that is under the age of 21 who can receive summer feeding.  It's under the summer food service program.  But you can receive food at that location.  So I encourage you to look to see where your location may be.  And when they're serving food.  So that's in this well-being guide.
11:41:17 And that may be useful to you.  And I'm going to let Anna in just a second, because she advises folks every day on how to access food through these DHHS programs.  But I will talk a little bit about how you can receive food from food banks and food pantries.
11:41:26 So the most -- I will stop sharing my screen so you can see me again.
11:42:06 But you can see in the chat Anna has put in the chat a PDF that is called Covid 19, food pantries and in there we want to make sure that everyone, she did a great job designing this document for every one to be able to see that the food banks and pantries in Michigan are open during Covid 19.  Some, some food pantries may, you know, you need to carefully check by searching online or calling 211 to ask.  And to find out which food pantries in your area, where they're located.
11:42:38 And what their hours are.  Most all of them are doing a a drive through or a curb side pick up service.  So you can, you know, have a -- you won't actually have to get within 6 feet.  What will happen is that most likely you will drive through, pop your trunk and the food will be placed in your trunk at the time that you come to that particular distribution.  So each, depending on your area, each food bank and pantry.
11:43:11 Some are doing mobile distributions.  And those will be located on the food bank's website.  But we ask that you call 211 to provide you for the contact information for your local food pantry.  But you can also search online with this, where it says on the flier, FBCM, ICH.org slash resources slash find a food bank, it's in this PDF, to find your local food bank and to find out what mobile distributions they may be doing.
11:43:46 So that you can identify those resources in a local area.  So it may be that they're running a new mobile distribution for Covid 19 that you can visit.  You just need to -- you just need to learn where that's located.  So I'm going to turn it over to my colleague, Anna, now to talk about DHHS and also to fill in any gaps that I might have missed about food banks and pantries because she's the expert in leading people to where the services are.  But we want to make sure you're aware.
11:44:02 I also see a question in the chat about if a student with a disability is still receiving special education services and over 21, do they qualify for school food programs.  That's a question -- Anna, do you know the answer to that question?
11:44:30 >>  Anna, for the food school programs, are you talking about the meal pick ups? That dawn had mentioned, the summer food service program? Yes.  Oh, so yes.  That, any student of any age that's in -- it doesn't have to be the school or the district they're enrolled in, they are welcome to go to those sites to pick up meals.
11:44:58 Hi.  So good morning.  I'm Anna, I'm the SNAP out reach coordinator at the food bank council of Michigan.  So I do a lot of the support in our network with sharing information about SNAP.  Which that is the supplemental nutrition assistance program in Michigan we call it the food assistance program or FAP.  And those benefits are loaded on to our state's EBT card, which is the bridge card.
11:45:06 I'm going to give some general information about SNAP, a couple updates and then can open for some questions.
11:45:34 And I will share some fliers, once I'm done speaking, I can share some in the chat as well.  But SNAP, there's been quite a few updates that have happened with that.  If you don't currently receive food assistance benefits on the Bridge card and you have had a change in your income, it is definitely encouraged that even if you didn't qualify previously, to complete an application with those new circumstances.
11:45:59 To see if you may be eligible.  The Michigan Department of Health and human services is still up and running.  Even though the lobbies are closed, there's been a lot of misunderstanding that because the lobbies are closed to the public, that doesn't mean the department is closed.  So the staff, the case workers are still there.  They are still processing new applications and processing any reported changes as well.
11:46:32 So there's a couple ways that those applications can be completed right now.  If you have access to the Internet through a computer, a tablet, or a smart phone, you can visit the MI bridges website, which is at Michigan.gov slash mi bridges and you can create and account on there to do that application.  We recognize that may not be an option for every one.  So at the food bank council of Michigan, we operate a state wide food assistance help line.
11:47:00 Anyone in Michigan that needs help doing that application, we can do that application with you over the phone.  And that help line is at 1-888-544-8773, and I will again, this will be one of the fliers that I share with that.  But that's open to all 83 counties.  Anyone living in Michigan can call that phone number and we can assist you with doing an application.
11:47:32 You may have heard there's been some changes, some additional benefits that were given to households that have the bridge card that get food benefits.  So for March and April, USDA, since SNAP is a federal program, they had allowed the Michigan Department of Health and humans services to issue some additional benefits for the months of mare and April.  That was for households not receiving the maximum amount of benefits for their household size.
11:47:59 They received an extra amount to bump them up to the maximum amount of benefits for those months.  We will see what will happen for May.  We haven't heard announcements on that yet.  Once we have that, we will share that information as well FLT but that's Ben very helpful for many households in Michigan to receive those additional benefits during these times of uncertainty.
11:48:44 The newest update, is a pandemic EVP program.  Michigan was actually the first state that was a RD wad the permission to do this program.  We were legal ahead of the game.  The pandemic EVT program is designed to replace the school meals while kids are at home and not in school.  So this program is any student who was eligible to receive free or reduced cost meals, is eligible and will receive the pandemic EVT benefits.
11:49:13 That works differently for different households.  Households that were already received food assistance benefits on the bridge card, those benefits are being loaded on to their bridge card right now.  So it's 193.80 is the first amount that's loaded on the bridge card.  For each eligible student.  So for every child in that household that received freed or reduced cost meals, they're going to receive those extra benefits.
11:49:40 For households that don't currently receive food assistance benefits on the bridge card, you're still eligible and your child will be receiving these benefits as well.  How that worked is the Michigan Department of Education took the information on all of the eligible students and provided that to the Michigan Department of Health and human services.  Once MDHHS got that information, they were able to figure out.
11:50:09 Where cards would need to be mailed to, EBT cards for each of these eligible students.  Those cards just started to be mailed this week.  And will continue to be mailed through mid May.  So I know there's been some worry, some have received that, some haven't.  They're still coming.  They're being mailed in batches on a daily basis.  They may look a little bit different than the bridge card.  But all of the vendors have seen the picture of what this EBT card looks like.
11:50:29 And know that it is, it is a real card and can be used.  So that will be mailed to the address that the school had on file.  It will be one card per household.  It will come in the name of the oldest child.  But it's intended for the parent or guardian to use to shop and the child does not need to be present to use that.
11:50:56 So I know that that was kind of a lot of information all at once.  One thing that I do expect probably would be a question is, um, students in special education that are over the age of 18 to 18 to 26, and if they received free or reduced lunch or meals when they were in school, yes, they are eligible.  So these benefits were being issued in a couple different groups.
11:51:21 The first group of benefits was going out initially to students in kindergarten through 12th grade, so traditional we think the students ages 5 to 18.  Then the benefits are being sent out to students ages 19 to 26 that are enrolled in special education programs, but also eligible for those free or reduced meals.  So those benefits are coming to your household as well.
11:51:50 And the program also is opened up to the young, early education stood as well, under 5, thinking programs like head start or the great start readiness program.  Those students if they received or were eligible for free or reduced meals, they will be receiving those cards and benefits AGS well and those should be arriving for all of the groups by me May.
11:51:57 Are there any questions so far? I think I see a few in the chat.
11:52:26 So if someone had asked if their benefits were decreased in the last month, that will be something that you will want to reach out to your local DHHS office or your case worker to see what changes were made, if there was something reported or if that was done in error.  But even if the benefits were decreased and you received award letter that says it had decreased, if you were below those maximum amount of benefits for that household, you should have still received those maximum.
11:52:32 Benefits, so I would recommend reaching out to the case worker at the local DHHS office.
11:52:40 Again, for those that didn't receive the maximum amount, that will be something you're going to want to reach out to DHHS about.
11:52:55 We're not -- the question, are with he getting the additional benefits for May and June as well.  We are not sure about that.  We are hopeful, but we haven't heard exactly if that's happening and what the issuance schedule would look like.
11:53:17 >>  I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt you, but we need to know the question, we are also broadcasting live on Facebook.  And so if you are going to read the questions in the chat yourself, could you read the question, then answer so that everyone that's watching has the benefit of the -- what the question is that you're answering?
11:53:30 >>  Anna:  Absolutely.  If it's easier if you want to read the questions out, I know there are quite a bit, to make sure I'm not missing any, if that's easier, if you want to read them to me and I can respond.
11:53:34 >>  Tedra:  Great.  We do have a person available to do that.  So Patti, you're on.
11:53:45 >>  Sure.  And I think you already were providing response for the $194 in May and June.
11:53:47 >>  Did you want to read the question?
11:53:53 >>  Someone asked, we aren't getting the $194 in May and June.
11:54:26 >>  So just to clarify with that, are you asking about the pandemic EBT benefits or the additional SNAP benefits that were awarded? Because that's two different things.  So if it's the additional SNAP benefits that were a RD wad in March and April, we're not sure what that's going to look for may or moving forward.  So the answer is no announcements have been made on that.  If they're asking about the pandemic EBT benefits, yes, there are benefits that were going to be awarded.
11:54:42 For May and June as well.  Those will be loaded on the bridge card and all the pandemic EBT cards at the ends of May.  It won't be the 193.80.  It will be 120.40, but that will be loaded at a different date.
11:54:46 >>  Is the 193 per household or per student?
11:54:49 >>  It is per eligible student.
11:54:52 >>  Tedra:  Okay.
11:55:04 >>  And then we have another question, did you indicate that an ID is needed to access the summer food program? And if so, is the ID from the parent or for the student?
11:55:34 >>  Anna.  And ID should not be asked for that.  Any, and a student doesn't have to be with the parent.  It's just a parent or a guardian that's looking to pick up meals for their student.  So they shouldn't be asked to provide, the child shouldn't have to be there to prove that they're a student there.  It's open to anyone.  You don't have to be a student at that school or that district necessarily.  These meals are offered to any student in the State of Michigan that needs to access that.
11:55:48 >>  Great.  Thanks.  And we have another question asking, do you have something in writing that discusses the $193.80 that can be shared with eligible families and students?
11:56:23 >>  Yes.  There is a flier that we shared with that.  One thing that may be helpful, since now that I know that's going on Facebook life here, we do have an out reach page that we are been sharing SNAP updates on.  So for those of you on Facebook, you can visit, it's called SNAP out reach at food bank council of Michigan, or you can search SNAP out reach MI.  But there is a flier in there, and then after I'm done answering the questions, I would be happy to load those into the chat for peopl.
11:56:42 As well.  But yes, there is a flier.  The Michigan Department of Education also has a page on their website that has that pandemic EBT information on there.  And they did take our flier and made it ADA accessible.  So that is available on there as well.
11:56:51 >>  Great.  And then one last question we have.  What if the child is on head start waiting list? Are they still eligible for the money?
11:57:13 >>  That I would have to find the answer on.  If they were not currently enrolled as a student in the program, I'm not sure that they would be receiving those benefits.  So these pandemic EBD benefits are going to stood that were enrolled in a school and were eligible to receive those free or reduced meals.
11:57:27 So if they were not on the waiting list and not technically considered enrolled, I'm not sure about that.  I would have to ask DHHS to clarify that.
11:57:35 >>  Another question came in asking how long do we get food stamps during the pandemic? As long as it lasts?
11:58:11 >>  So is this asking about just the regular stamp benefits food assistance or pandemic EBT? So if it's just the regular food assistance benefits SNAP, for as long as you are eligible, your income and you're eligible for that, you can continue to receive those benefits.  If something were to change, say you went back to work and your income took you above the requirements for SNAP, you'd have to report that.  And if at that time it took you above, you would no longer par March receive the be.
11:58:18 Par but as long as you're eligible and you meet the income requirements, you absolutely can continue to receive those benefits.
11:58:38 >>  Anna? We heard at the council office that there was talk of a pilot program happening in Detroit that had to do with SNAP recipients in getting grocery pick up or delivery with their EBT cards.  Do you know anything about that?
11:58:53 >>  I actually believe that is something Dawn has been working with glean errs on.  Gleaners is our food bank there and that serves southeast Michigan.  And that's a project she's been working on so he will let her take that one.
11:59:25 >>  Dawn:  Sure.  So what I know about that is that we are working very hard to try to get the ability to use SNAP and EBT cards to pay for home delivered groceries.  And I believe that we are a few weeks away from receiving the appropriate waiver from the federal government that would allow us to do that.  So we've been working for about six weeks on that in the hopes that we can pilot that in Detroit soon.
11:59:50 As soon as we have any further information on that, it will definitely be available through I would say either through DHHS and certainly through gleaners community food bank.  Their website.  So and we at the food bank council would certainly have information about it through our hot line as well.  But it is not currently operational yet.  But we're working very hard to get that up and running.
12:00:00 >>  Okay.  Thank you.  Tracey, do we have any questions or comments on Facebook for Anna or Dawn.
12:00:12 >>  Yes, we actually have one question from a MS steward and she asked where can students get food in Detroit?
12:00:53 >>  So this is Dawn again.  And I would say that if you can access that flier that I put in the chat, I guess it's someone on Facebook life, so we'll go over and put the link to the -- to the map for summer feeding in the Facebook space as well so that you can search the map and you can zoom all the way in on your neighborhood in Detroit to find where there is pick up, grab and go food under the summer feeding program.
12:01:02 >>  Tedra:  Patti, do you want to -- I think there was another comment or question that just came through the chat that --
12:01:29 >>  Patti:  We have a comment from Angela.  Saying I think many PWD's are getting the very minimum of food stamp benefits, $16.  With the Covid 19 enhancements, the additional funds have provided an additional -- it's incredibly difficult to Eaton $16 per month or $4 per week.
12:01:30 >>  And then.
12:01:38 >>.  PWD, or person with disability.
12:02:10 >>  So individuals that normally receive the minimum amount, the $16 per month, they should have received the additional food assistance benefits for the month of March and April.  Related to the Covid 19 emergency.  So that should have bumped them up to 194 for a household of 1.  Again, we're waiting to see what that's going to look like for May and moving forward for the month that the emergency order is still in place.
12:02:29 But we expect that there will be some benefits, additional benefits there in the future while the emergency order is still in place.  We just don't have the specific information at this time.  It hasn't been announced by DHHS yet.
12:02:43 >>  Then we have two more questions coming in on the chat.  And the first one is, what are the challenges for food banks and FBCM keeping supplies available for the community, and how can this be helped?
12:03:16 >>  So I can speak to that.  Obviously just like you're experiencing at the, at your local grocery store, the food supply chain has been disrupted during Covid 19 to some degree so we've had to work hard to keep our supplies source D, and we're also obviously experiencing changes in our volunteer work force with Covid 19, and have worked to deploy the National Guard to pack boxes for us.
12:03:49 So those are some of the challenges that we've experienced.  In terms of how this can be helped, for those who are interested in donating to our virtual food drive, you can go to Michigan virtual food drive.org and donate to the virtual food drive.  So I believe that Sherry king was talking about the program for seniors to home deliver box to their homes.  And I can also put that link in the chat.  But that's one of the ways that we're asking for support right now.
12:04:06 Especially in a time where we want folks to stay safe and stay home.  So we're really relying on virtual donations through the website.
12:04:14 >>  We have another question asking how can one look at the deposits on their Michigan Bridges card?
12:04:53 >>  So for those that have those active benefits, if you have a my bridges account, or if a caregiver is responsible for looking -- for managing that account, that information is accessible in that that MI bridges account there.  They also can call the number that is on the back of the bridge card.  I will post that right here.  That's always going to have real time updated information on how many benefits are on that card at that time.
12:05:25 And I will note with that, just another note, I know we get a lot of questions from clients about the fresh EBTapp that some people do use to manage their benefits.  A ND that is a great resource, but I will say that it's not run by the Michigan Department of Health and human service, it's run by a third party.  So sometimes information may take longer to get to that app than it would if you were accessing the information through MI bridges or the EBT customer service number.
12:05:29 That I added to the chats.
12:06:04 >>  For people using the fresh EBTapp Anna, do you know anything about the technology partnership that was going to be sending some kind of tablet or Chrome Book to some of the recipient? They had a large donation, whoever runs the fresh EBT app, they got a large donation in a partnership with one of the tech companies in California.  And if you were using the fresh EBT app, you were eligible to receive one of the devices.
12:06:31 >>  I have heard that, I have had some clients that have asked that on our Facebook SNAP out reach page, but because it's from a third party and not from the Michigan Department of Health and human services, we don't have anything to do with that.  Neither does DHHS.  So they were the one, I believe it was at random that they were selecting the recipients or the winners for that, but I don't have any information specifically on that since it's run by the organization.
12:06:34 That does fresh EBT.
12:06:45 >>  Thank you.  Looks like there is some more activity in the chat.  I'm not sure if it's questions or comments.
12:06:59 >>  We have someone ask, did all SNAP recipients get the additional funding, or just students? Many of our Michigan choice waiver clients are only receiving $16.
12:07:21 >>  So the additional benefits ANL the pandemic EBT benefits for students are two separate things.  So there are some households that received both since they're two different programs.  The additional benefits that were awarded in March and April, that went to any household that was receiving below the maximum amount of benefits for their household size.
12:07:49 So if they were someone that received the $16 which is the minimum, yes, they should have received that amount.  If the household was already at their maximum amount for the household size, those would have been the households that did not see an increase.  But anyone that was below, yes, should have received additional benefits to take them up to the maximum.
12:08:02 >>  I'm not -- Tedra:  There's a question Anna, about how do we get a box of food?
12:08:12 And that might be referring to the food boxes that Sherri referenced when she was speaking.
12:09:04 >>  So this is Dawn.  I can respond to that.  So the box of food for seniors that are over 60 years old, that is through the area offices on aging.  And so you would need to call your local area office on aging to have delivery to a senior.  For a box of food that is coming through a mobile fod distribution from a food bank, you need to identify your local food bank and that's the flier that Anna put in the chat earlier, to call 211, and to identify where your local pantry or a mobile distr.
12:09:24 There is a way to be touch less, to receive food from food banks and pain trees, so it's locating who in your service area, where is the right place.  So 211 can assist you with that.  And also looking at the website of your regional food bank.
12:09:36 >>  And would those boxes, Dawn, be the same boxes, the 20 shelf-stable meals that Sherri referenced, or are they different boxes.
12:10:06 >>  Dawn:  They're different.  Some of them may look just like that.  It depend on what mobile distribution and what food they're using that day.  So at the pantries it will look different most likely.  But they may look the same, those quarantine boxes are being used in certain areas for food banks mobile distributions.
12:10:28 >>  And are the quarantine boxes available for every day citizens to purchase? Or for other organizations to purchase? Provider organizations, community mental health organizations? Or is it something that only is available to the AAA's or food banks.
12:11:04 >>  Right now the AAA's have contracted through ASA, their state DHHS entity to contract with us for those boxes for seniors.  We have, but we're working with the state for other potential community mental health has been one that's called a lot.  But if you are an agency that has a need, I encourage you to either call us at the food bank council or to talk to your state, to talk to DHHS, about the possibility of contracting with.
12:11:06 Our food banks for those needs.
12:11:11 >>  Okay.  Thank you.
12:11:25 >>  We have one more question in the chat asking, what if the mobile food bank doesn't reach an area? What information is needed from those who go to the mobile food bank? Is it first come, first serve?
12:11:55 >>  So I can -- the last question, is the first come first serve, at a mobile food distribution, yes it is.  And those have recently often been drive through model so cars line up.  And yes, that has been how that's worked.  I would encourage you, mobile distributions don't occur everywhere, but that's where 211 and identifying which pantry in your area may be opened and most are.  There's very FUT, if any, that are closed right now.
12:12:16 So it is a he really identifying who is distributing food in your area, locating those hours and getting there.  So the mobile food distributions look a little bit different.  Depending on the region.  So it's really just locating the right pantry to serve that client.
12:12:46 >>  And I would add one more thing to that is the food banks have reported they're seeing a ton of traffic to those mobile distributions.  Sometimes so much that they're having to turn people away.  Whereas like Dawn had mentioned, there's many in-house pantries at agencies that have food.  Many other days of the week that are much more accessible on a regular basis.  That we hate for people to be turned away from just going to mobiles and maybe them not having enough.
12:13:05 For the need there, when there are pantries all over the state that are fully stocked with food that aren't seeing as much traffic.  They're there and they're able to serve because there is has been the misunderstanding that they're closed.  And many are still open, like Dawn said.
12:13:16 >>  We have another question in our chat asking, are quarantine boxes available to seniors who will in adult foster care homes.
12:13:46 >>  Yes, again, I would encourage the -- anyone interested either working at the adult foster care home or a client, to contact their regional area office on aging for that.  But yes, if you are over 60 and there are no other feeding programs that are available to that client, they should be able to receive a quarantine box.
12:13:54 >>  So the quarantine boxes would be a last resort for someone in a AFC.
12:14:28 >>  Yea, again, I think it's very dependent on -- like context dependent on that particular AAA and what the demand has been for that AAA, so I would really encourage that person to call.  And there have been some residential facilities that have worked directly with the state for feeding needs.  And there have been several different options that have been deployed, so it depends on the part of the state, what the need is, if it's a single person or multiple people.
12:14:59 So I just encourage them to always call their AAA if it's a senior and again to work with state DHHS liaisons to identify that need, because those are filtering up to us through different channels through DHHS.  So you know, to identify what the best remedy is for that particular home and that particular, you know, set of circumstances.
12:15:16 >>  Great.  Thank you.  Are there anymore questions for any of our panelists? Tracey is -- are there anymore questions or comments on Facebook?
12:15:33 >>  Not at this time.  There is actually one question, so for those who have joined by Facebook and are not on the actual webinar, will the chat be available for individuals to see?
12:15:58 >>  Yes, we will link all the resources on our Facebook page from today.  All of the information that was shared in the chat, we'll get it linked so we can get it out to people on social media.
12:16:38 >>  Okay.  Well, last call for questions.  I would like to say thank you very much to all four of our panelists today.  You guys all shared very valuable information that is going to be really helpful for a lot of people.  And we will definitely be coming back to Sara in the coming weeks once those implementation plans shape up at the CIL.  So Sara, you can just be anticipating my e-mail for our next, you know, for another one of these.
12:17:00 And thank you to everyone that called in or watched us live on Facebook.  We really appreciate it.  And we will make sure that we get the notes and resources from today out to everyone.  Thank you.  Have a great day.
12:17:02 >>  Thank you.
12:17:06 >>  Thank you, Tedra.