Montgomery County launched a new program to help families in need pay for their groceries and get them delivered to their homes. News4’s Mauricio Casillas reports how the county partnered with food delivery service Instacart to give families monthly vouchers.
Montgomery County has launched a new program to help families in need pay for their groceries and get them delivered straight to their homes.
The county partnership with food delivery service Instacart is giving families monthly vouchers -- and for Danielle Wood, the program means one less thing to worry about.
Wood is a working mother of three. Her family is one of 600 enrolled in the Montgomery County Groceries Program. She receives a monthly voucher of 300 dollars, which she can use to get groceries delivered to her door through Instacart.
"It's a huge breath of relief, yeah," Wood told News4 while enjoying the park with her youngest, who is just nine months old.
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Wood and her husband work full time. But they're not immune to the financial pinch being felt by millions of people nationwide.
Making ends meet has been difficult, so the opportunity to have one part of the problem taken care of -- and have it delivered straight to their door -- has been huge.
"You want to have a family and you also want to be able to care for your family," Wood said. "You want to care for them well. To be supported by the county, by the community, and be seen by your community is a big deal."
Montgomery County allocated $1.8 million toward the program. Collaboration with Instacart has been key, the county told News4.
Families are able to get $100 per child, per month, up to four children.
Here are the qualifications for the program:
- Households must have at least one child under the age of 18
- Households must NOT be recieving benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) program
- Households must have an income below 400% of the federal poverty level. That roughly equates to $124,000 a year for a household of 4.
Montgomery County says the program is specifically designed for families in the "SNAP gap" -- where they make too much for federal assistance, but are still struggling to make ends meet.
"We have to make sure that programs like this expand, so that we can meet the needs of our community and meet them where they are," said Montgomery County Councilmember Gabe Albornoz.
For Wood, the financial breathing room lets her enjoy the little things even more, like spending quality time with her kids.
"There's a lot of families who you wouldn't look at them and expect that this would be such a boon and such a gift for them to receive this, but it's life-changing," Wood said. "It seems like the smallest thing. It's just groceries, but it's making a difference."
The County has plans to expand the program to support up to 2,000 households.
More than 80 grocery stores in Montgomery County are part of the program. You can get more information on getting involved here.
