End Food Insecurity & Expand Cash Assistance: Support for Disabled Individuals
The Issue
To: The United States Congress, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Massachusetts State Legislature
WHY I STARTED THIS PETITION
My name is Katie Furtado. I live in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and I am disabled. I know what hard work is: I used to work two jobs — each of them basically full-time — while attending college full time, and even then I could barely make ends meet. I did not stop working because I wanted to; disability ended that. Now I cannot work, so I live on a fixed disability income — and before I buy a single grocery, nearly all of it is already gone: rent, the car payment for the vehicle I depend on to obtain food, and medical care, the auto insurance Massachusetts law requires me to carry, and utilities. What little is left has to cover food, hygiene products, gas, medical costs, and everything else in my life. SNAP is supposed to "supplement" a food budget — but when your whole income goes to survival bills, there is no food budget left to supplement. I started this petition because I know I am not the only disabled person doing this math every month, and because the system can be fixed.
This petition will be delivered to U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, U.S. Representative Bill Keating, Massachusetts State Senator Mark Montigny, and the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities and any other organizations or individuals that hold any ground in regards to these circumstances.
THE PETITION
We, the undersigned, call on lawmakers and state agencies to immediately restructure the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and state-level cash assistance programs to support disabled individuals who cannot work and are restricted to fixed incomes.
While the "S" in SNAP stands for "Supplemental," this designation fundamentally fails disabled individuals. When fixed disability incomes are entirely consumed by basic survival bills — rent, utilities, mandatory car insurance, and medical care — there is no primary food budget left to supplement. For those who are physically unable to enter the workforce to bridge this financial gap, food assistance must be comprehensive. If SNAP cannot be structurally overhauled to serve as a primary food source for those who cannot work, then an entirely new, dedicated food security program must be created.
The current SNAP formula refuses to recognize essential transportation as a basic cost of living. In states like Massachusetts, auto insurance is legally mandated, and a reliable vehicle is an absolute necessity for disabled individuals to access medical care, pharmacies, and other basic services, including buying groceries and basic hygiene products. Yet, car payments and mandated auto insurance are not currently allowable utility or shelter deductions under federal SNAP rules. As a result, the government calculates disabled individuals' discretionary income based on money they do not actually have. If the government refuses to recognize these mandatory expenses in its benefit calculations, it has a duty to offset them by offering subsidized auto loans and insurance programs tailored specifically for disabled individuals on fixed incomes, as many have poor credit due to a lack of income, and cannot qualify for a regular loan or afford an upfront payment for a private individual sale, and as some cannot rely on ride share services, relatives or friends.
Because SNAP strictly prohibits the purchase of non-food essentials, disabled individuals are often forced to sacrifice basic personal hygiene — choosing between a meal and vital items like menstrual products, toilet paper, and soap. When food stamps cannot cover these items, disabled individuals must turn to state cash assistance programs like Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC) and Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC). However, the income thresholds for these programs are prohibitively low. For example, the EAEDC monthly income limit for a single person with shelter costs is just $441.10. This strict cutoff immediately disqualifies almost anyone receiving standard fixed disability benefits like SSDI, leaving them with absolutely no way to purchase basic hygiene products.
Furthermore, treating emergency food pantries as a substitute for adequate financial benefits is dangerous and undignified. Food pantries are frequently severely under-resourced and often distribute food that is inedible, long past its expiration date, or compromised by severe contaminants including, but not limited to, maggots and cockroaches. Disabled individuals should not be forced to gamble with their health, risk foodborne illness, or endure humiliating, unsanitary conditions just to survive, especially since many already have weakened immune systems.
State agencies like the Massachusetts DTA already have a lifeline in place called the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP), which legally allows disabled, elderly (60+), and homeless individuals to purchase safe, prepared meals at authorized restaurants using their SNAP EBT cards. However, this program is poorly explained, barely promoted, and highly restrictive, with only a small fraction of restaurants currently participating across the state. Worse, eligible individuals must physically swipe their cards in person because delivery orders do not qualify. This severely limits the program's usefulness for the very disabled individuals it was designed to help.
Compounding this crisis are the insurmountable administrative barriers to simply accessing or maintaining these vital benefits. It is practically impossible to reach state agencies, such as the DTA, by phone. Callers are routinely met with automated messages stating that call volumes are too high before being told to try again later and disconnected. For disabled individuals who are physically unable to travel to a local office to wait in line, and who are provided with no direct email contact options, this lack of accessibility is a massive failure. People are being locked out of their own survival funds simply because the system refuses to answer the phone.
WE DEMAND THE FOLLOWING CHANGES:
- Expand Access to Cash Assistance & Protect Housing Subsidies: We demand the state legislature significantly raise the income and asset limits for EAEDC and TAFDC so that disabled individuals living on SSDI or SSI can qualify, providing necessary cash to purchase the basic sanitary and hygiene products that SNAP was not designed to cover. Furthermore, we demand that any income received from these cash assistance programs be strictly exempt from being calculated into state and federal housing subsidy formulas (such as Section 8 or public housing). Receiving basic survival funds for hygiene must never trigger a devastating rent increase.
- Establish Comprehensive Support: Restructure SNAP to provide primary — not just supplemental — food funding for those unable to work, or establish a new, dedicated program that guarantees true food security for disabled individuals on fixed incomes.
- Raise the Minimum Monthly Allotment: Establish a new, higher baseline minimum monthly SNAP benefit that reflects the actual cost of living and groceries.
- Acknowledge and Offset Transportation Costs: Update federal SNAP rules to classify basic car payments and state-mandated auto insurance (up to a reasonable threshold, such as a $20,000 vehicle and standard coverage) as an allowable utility deduction. If the government refuses to adjust this formula, it must establish state or federally subsidized auto loans and insurance programs tailored specifically for disabled individuals on fixed incomes, as many have poor credit due to a lack of income, and cannot qualify for a regular loan or afford an upfront payment for a private individual sale .
- Expand and Promote the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP): Require the DTA to proactively explain and promote RMP eligibility to all disabled and homeless individuals. We also demand active recruitment of more local restaurants into the program and the removal of the in-person swipe requirement so disabled individuals can order safe, prepared food for delivery.
- Reform Income Deductions for the Disabled: Adjust the federal formula so that fixed disability incomes do not disqualify individuals from receiving meaningful, livable food assistance.
- Account for Accessibility Costs: Factor in the reality that many disabled individuals must rely on grocery delivery services or pre-prepared foods, which carry higher costs not currently covered by standard allowances.
- Mandate Accessible Communication Channels: Require all state agencies administering benefits to implement functional, accessible customer service options, including monitored email addresses and guaranteed callbacks, so disabled individuals are not forced to visit physical offices.
No one in this country should go to bed hungry, be forced to accept contaminated food, forfeit basic hygiene, or be cut off from help due to broken phone systems. We urge you to take immediate legislative action to protect those who need it most.
130
The Issue
To: The United States Congress, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Massachusetts State Legislature
WHY I STARTED THIS PETITION
My name is Katie Furtado. I live in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and I am disabled. I know what hard work is: I used to work two jobs — each of them basically full-time — while attending college full time, and even then I could barely make ends meet. I did not stop working because I wanted to; disability ended that. Now I cannot work, so I live on a fixed disability income — and before I buy a single grocery, nearly all of it is already gone: rent, the car payment for the vehicle I depend on to obtain food, and medical care, the auto insurance Massachusetts law requires me to carry, and utilities. What little is left has to cover food, hygiene products, gas, medical costs, and everything else in my life. SNAP is supposed to "supplement" a food budget — but when your whole income goes to survival bills, there is no food budget left to supplement. I started this petition because I know I am not the only disabled person doing this math every month, and because the system can be fixed.
This petition will be delivered to U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, U.S. Representative Bill Keating, Massachusetts State Senator Mark Montigny, and the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Children, Families and Persons with Disabilities and any other organizations or individuals that hold any ground in regards to these circumstances.
THE PETITION
We, the undersigned, call on lawmakers and state agencies to immediately restructure the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and state-level cash assistance programs to support disabled individuals who cannot work and are restricted to fixed incomes.
While the "S" in SNAP stands for "Supplemental," this designation fundamentally fails disabled individuals. When fixed disability incomes are entirely consumed by basic survival bills — rent, utilities, mandatory car insurance, and medical care — there is no primary food budget left to supplement. For those who are physically unable to enter the workforce to bridge this financial gap, food assistance must be comprehensive. If SNAP cannot be structurally overhauled to serve as a primary food source for those who cannot work, then an entirely new, dedicated food security program must be created.
The current SNAP formula refuses to recognize essential transportation as a basic cost of living. In states like Massachusetts, auto insurance is legally mandated, and a reliable vehicle is an absolute necessity for disabled individuals to access medical care, pharmacies, and other basic services, including buying groceries and basic hygiene products. Yet, car payments and mandated auto insurance are not currently allowable utility or shelter deductions under federal SNAP rules. As a result, the government calculates disabled individuals' discretionary income based on money they do not actually have. If the government refuses to recognize these mandatory expenses in its benefit calculations, it has a duty to offset them by offering subsidized auto loans and insurance programs tailored specifically for disabled individuals on fixed incomes, as many have poor credit due to a lack of income, and cannot qualify for a regular loan or afford an upfront payment for a private individual sale, and as some cannot rely on ride share services, relatives or friends.
Because SNAP strictly prohibits the purchase of non-food essentials, disabled individuals are often forced to sacrifice basic personal hygiene — choosing between a meal and vital items like menstrual products, toilet paper, and soap. When food stamps cannot cover these items, disabled individuals must turn to state cash assistance programs like Emergency Aid to the Elderly, Disabled and Children (EAEDC) and Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC). However, the income thresholds for these programs are prohibitively low. For example, the EAEDC monthly income limit for a single person with shelter costs is just $441.10. This strict cutoff immediately disqualifies almost anyone receiving standard fixed disability benefits like SSDI, leaving them with absolutely no way to purchase basic hygiene products.
Furthermore, treating emergency food pantries as a substitute for adequate financial benefits is dangerous and undignified. Food pantries are frequently severely under-resourced and often distribute food that is inedible, long past its expiration date, or compromised by severe contaminants including, but not limited to, maggots and cockroaches. Disabled individuals should not be forced to gamble with their health, risk foodborne illness, or endure humiliating, unsanitary conditions just to survive, especially since many already have weakened immune systems.
State agencies like the Massachusetts DTA already have a lifeline in place called the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP), which legally allows disabled, elderly (60+), and homeless individuals to purchase safe, prepared meals at authorized restaurants using their SNAP EBT cards. However, this program is poorly explained, barely promoted, and highly restrictive, with only a small fraction of restaurants currently participating across the state. Worse, eligible individuals must physically swipe their cards in person because delivery orders do not qualify. This severely limits the program's usefulness for the very disabled individuals it was designed to help.
Compounding this crisis are the insurmountable administrative barriers to simply accessing or maintaining these vital benefits. It is practically impossible to reach state agencies, such as the DTA, by phone. Callers are routinely met with automated messages stating that call volumes are too high before being told to try again later and disconnected. For disabled individuals who are physically unable to travel to a local office to wait in line, and who are provided with no direct email contact options, this lack of accessibility is a massive failure. People are being locked out of their own survival funds simply because the system refuses to answer the phone.
WE DEMAND THE FOLLOWING CHANGES:
- Expand Access to Cash Assistance & Protect Housing Subsidies: We demand the state legislature significantly raise the income and asset limits for EAEDC and TAFDC so that disabled individuals living on SSDI or SSI can qualify, providing necessary cash to purchase the basic sanitary and hygiene products that SNAP was not designed to cover. Furthermore, we demand that any income received from these cash assistance programs be strictly exempt from being calculated into state and federal housing subsidy formulas (such as Section 8 or public housing). Receiving basic survival funds for hygiene must never trigger a devastating rent increase.
- Establish Comprehensive Support: Restructure SNAP to provide primary — not just supplemental — food funding for those unable to work, or establish a new, dedicated program that guarantees true food security for disabled individuals on fixed incomes.
- Raise the Minimum Monthly Allotment: Establish a new, higher baseline minimum monthly SNAP benefit that reflects the actual cost of living and groceries.
- Acknowledge and Offset Transportation Costs: Update federal SNAP rules to classify basic car payments and state-mandated auto insurance (up to a reasonable threshold, such as a $20,000 vehicle and standard coverage) as an allowable utility deduction. If the government refuses to adjust this formula, it must establish state or federally subsidized auto loans and insurance programs tailored specifically for disabled individuals on fixed incomes, as many have poor credit due to a lack of income, and cannot qualify for a regular loan or afford an upfront payment for a private individual sale .
- Expand and Promote the Restaurant Meals Program (RMP): Require the DTA to proactively explain and promote RMP eligibility to all disabled and homeless individuals. We also demand active recruitment of more local restaurants into the program and the removal of the in-person swipe requirement so disabled individuals can order safe, prepared food for delivery.
- Reform Income Deductions for the Disabled: Adjust the federal formula so that fixed disability incomes do not disqualify individuals from receiving meaningful, livable food assistance.
- Account for Accessibility Costs: Factor in the reality that many disabled individuals must rely on grocery delivery services or pre-prepared foods, which carry higher costs not currently covered by standard allowances.
- Mandate Accessible Communication Channels: Require all state agencies administering benefits to implement functional, accessible customer service options, including monitored email addresses and guaranteed callbacks, so disabled individuals are not forced to visit physical offices.
No one in this country should go to bed hungry, be forced to accept contaminated food, forfeit basic hygiene, or be cut off from help due to broken phone systems. We urge you to take immediate legislative action to protect those who need it most.
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on November 1, 2026