1 of 6 Nealie Yarbrough c king dinner at her house requires a break to check her messages in bay area, Ca., on Wednesday Nov. 27, 2013. Yarbrough 51, a mother that is single san francisco bay area’s Visitation Valley knows first hand the embarrassment to be in a supermarket checkout line and being denied while using the her state-issued debit card.
She’s now registered to receive text messages reminding her to renew her advantages just before they expire. Michael Macor/The Chronicle Show More Show Less2 of 6 Nealie Yarbrough c king dinner at her house in san francisco bay area, Ca., on Nov. 27, 2013 wednesday. Yarbrough 51, a single mom in san francisco bay area’s Visitation Valley knows first hand the embarrassment to be in a supermarket checkout line and being rejected when using her state-issued debit card. She’s got now signed up to get text messages reminding her to restore her advantages prior to they expire. Michael Macor/The Chronicle Show More Show Less
4 of 6 Nealie Yarbrough, in bay area, Ca., ukrainedate com on Wednesday Nov. 27, 2013. displays the text message she received reminding her to renew her advantages. Yarbrough 51, a mother that is single bay area’s Visitation Valley knows very first hand the embarrassment to be in a supermarket checkout line and being rejected while using her state- issued debit card. She’s now opted to get texting reminding her to renew her advantages prior to they expire. Michael Macor/The Chronicle Show More Show Less
5 of 6 Nealie Yarbrough c king dinner at her house in San Francisco, Ca., on Wednesday Nov. 27, 2013, hinges on the f d that is local for f d while waiting for her f d advantageous assets to start straight back up. Yarbrough 51, a mother that is single san francisco bay area’s Visitation Valley knows first hand the embarrassment of being in a supermarket checkout line being rejected while using her state- granted debit card. She has now opted to receive texts reminding her to renew her advantages right before they expire. Michael Macor/The Chronicle Show More Show Less
Nealie Yarbrough, a 51-year-old solitary mother, understands the sting to be at the grocery store checkout and having her debit card denied.
In Yarbrough’s situation, it was the card that is county-issued she thought will be laden with meals stamps. Alternatively, her benefits have been cut off because she hadn’t updated her documents over time.
“It was irritating, you understand?” stated Yarbrough, the mother of the 14-year-old girl. ” That basically is embarrassing.”
This woman is one of many.
About 1,000 of the 34,000 bay area households getting f d stamps have actually their benefits take off every month for maybe not upgrading their paperwork on time, stated Trent Rhorer, mind for the bay area Human Services Agency.
“This happens about 1,000 times a ” rhorer said month. “for the time being, they’d lose their benefits for a couple of weeks. It’s really a hassle.”
Well, now there is an application for that – of course.
Four fellows dealing with the town from Code for America, a nonprofit referred to as “the Peace Corps for geeks” that uses technology to try and make government more responsive, has arrived up by having an application that delivers text messages to recipients if they’re planning to lose their benefits. The communications include a populous town phone number the person can call to make sure they remain enrolled.
Formerly, beneficiaries had to register forms that are quarterly their income, work status along with other information. Now the forms needs to be finished twice a year. Notices would get to the mail and were allowed to be sent 10 days ahead of advantages being cut off.
Often the notices arrived late, individuals signed up for the scheduled program said. Other times, the densely worded papers had been over l ked or not put to work.
“The mail is dependable, but it’s never dependable,” stated Yarbrough, that is raising a child in Visitacion Valley and will earn about $12,000 in 2010 being a part-time organizer for a nonprofit. “By the full time we have the page, it’s most likely a time or two before i am cut off . and that means you have actually to ensure that you manage it.”
The text messages have proven effective, city officials said in an era when even homeless people have cell phones.
Dante de la Pena, 49, a laid-off information technology help staffer, had been amazed when he got their first text alert from the city.
“Now that I understand what to anticipate . I do believe We actually enjoy it,” de la Pena said.
So far, about 1,000 folks have registered to receive the alerts, and early tests of the program saw a 50 per cent response rate – far greater than old-fashioned mail or e-mail, in accordance with Mayor Ed Lee’s office, which will be attempting to make government cheaper, faster and better.