Amy

*All names have been changed.*

Last week I spent some time talking to Amy. She is new in town, widowed, with two twin 13 year old girls. She does not yet have a job. Beyond that, I don't know her situation, particularly why she is still unemployed.
What is interesting, and yet hardly unique about Amy is that she is still trying to master the learning curve of getting the help she needs.

One of her requests for us was that she was having a hard time finding the help she needed. Since our first meeting, she has been approved for SNAP benefits of over $100 a month, which is a big help, but hardly enough to feed 3 people for a month.
I asked her if you daughters received free or reduced price breakfasts and lunches. They do not. At first glance, it seems like a no-brainer. Apply for it. Get it. Done.
But I think she is still settling in to being "needy." Her girls really don't like to buy lunch because the lines are long and once they get their food, they don't have time to socialize with their friends. I know, it's easy to tell them to get over it and eat their free lunch. It's easy from the sidelines. It's hard when you haven't had to deal with your kids in this way. I told her it was maybe time to let them in on the fact that they really need to work together as a family in this tough time, and they are old enough to understand the need to eat their free lunches. I suggested she even make a deal with them to buy lunch 4 days a week and she would pack 1. Start somewhere. Strike a compromise. I understand middle school girls. I live with one. But don't give up free food.
They don't get to school early enough to eat breakfast there because of when their bus drops them off, and she doesn't feel she can spend the gas money to drive them.
Seeing the answers, sometimes, when you are in the thick of it, is hard. I simply did the math. Two kids X 2 meals per day, 5 days per week. Twenty meals a week she wouldn't have to provide. Even if she truly couldn't afford the gas to drive the girls to school every day, 10 meals per week would be an awesome help.
I think the numbers convinced her.