FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2020
Contact: Bob Wheaton, 517-241-2112

LANSING, MICH. Approximately 350,000 Michigan families will continue to have access to additional food assistance benefits during the month of July as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) announced today.

Michigan previously approved the additional food assistance for March through June – and now that is being extended for the month of July with approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service.

“Many Michigan families are still struggling to put food on the table as a result of this global pandemic,” Gov. Whitmer said. “These additional payments will help many Michiganders as they continue to deal with an unprecedented public health and economic emergency.”

Eligible clients will see additional food assistance benefits on their Bridge Card by July 30, with payments beginning for some households on July 20. Additional benefits will be loaded onto Bridge Cards as a separate payment from the assistance that is provided earlier in the month.

Nearly 1.5 million people in Michigan receive federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits through the state’s Food Assistance Program.

Households eligible for Food Assistance Program benefits will receive additional benefits in June to bring all current SNAP cases to the maximum monthly allowance for that group size. This change only applies to customers not currently receiving the maximum benefit amount. The 350,000 households that receive increased benefits represent close to 50 percent of the more than 800,000 Michigan households that received food assistance in May. The remaining households already receive the maximum benefit.

The table below shows the maximum allowable benefit for SNAP customers based on their respective household size:

The federal government is providing additional funding to states for food assistance under House Resolution 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

Eligible families do not need to re-apply to receive the additional benefits. People who receive food assistance can check their benefits balance on their Michigan Bridge Card by going online to www.michigan.gov/MIBridges a consumer service representative toll-free at 888-678-8914. They can ask questions about the additional benefits by calling or emailing their caseworker.

Customer service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Spanish and Arabic service is available. If you are deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing or speech-impaired, call the Michigan Relay Center at 7-1-1.

Information around the COVID-19 outbreak is changing rapidly. The latest information is available at Michigan.gov/Coronavirus and CDC.gov/Coronavirus.