Currently known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), food stamps is Federal program that helps low-income individuals or households to purchase food items. This program is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture under the Food and Nutrition Service. However, its benefits are usually distributed to various U.S. departments such as Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Social Services, among others.
Are you a participant of food stamps? The good news is that you can now get a free home phone service and be able to remain connected inexpensively. However, it’s crucial to mention that food stamps is exclusively a federal food program and doesn’t provide home phone services directly. Instead, food stamps consumers are considered eligible to get free home phone services through the free communication programs like lifeline. Let’s explain further for better understanding:
Steps to Get Free Home Phone Services with Food Stamps For Low-Income Households
As we have stated above, food stamps does not offer free home services directly. However, once you qualify for the program, you are bound to enjoy Lifeline Assistance program. With Lifeline program in place, you will now be able to get free or discounted phone services through participating lifeline service providers. Thankfully, there is a myriad of carriers that participate in the Lifeline program. Depending on your preferred carrier, the Lifeline benefits might vary.
To enjoy free home phone service as a SNAP participant, you will be required to apply for the Lifeline program either via the National Verifier or via your preferred carrier. Here, you will be required to fill an application form and then attach copies of your personal and eligibility documents. If you meet the eligibility requirements set by the National Verifier or Lifeline service provider, you will be able to enjoy low-cost home phone service seamlessly.
Benefits Of Free Home Phone Services For People On Food Stamps
Once you qualify for the free home phone services as a SNAP participant, be certain that you will enjoy the following benefits:
- You will no longer strain to pay your monthly phone bill as you will enjoy some discount from the Lifeline program. To be specific, you can enjoy discounts of up to $9.25 if you live in Non-tribal lands or $25 if you reside on Tribal lands.
- It allows you to keep in touch with those whom you love.
- You will be able to access emergency healthcare services
- Depending on the carrier you choose to work with, you can enjoy the following additional features; Call waiting, call forwarding services, call display, speed calling, 3-way calling, among other impressive features.
Qualifying Criteria For Free Home Phone Services On Food Stamps
For you to qualify for free home phone service on Food Stamp, you need to qualify for the Lifeline program first. To qualify for the Lifeline program, your income has to stand at or be below 135% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Depending on your residential state, consider checking what its Federal Poverty Guidelines state and then determine if you meet the much-needed requirement or not.
In case you do not meet the low income criteria discussed above, you can now qualify if you are a participant of other government assistance programs like food stamps. Therefore, food stamps consumers are automatically considered eligible for free home phone services from lifeline. Other programs that can make you eligible for free home phone services include:
- Medicaid
- Supplemental Security Income
- Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
- Federal Public Housing Assistance
- Veteran’s Pension and Survivors Benefit
You can also qualify if you reside on Tribal lands and enjoy any of the following government assistance programs:
- Tribal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
- Bureau of Indian Affairs General Assistance
- Tribal Head Start(Only those individuals or households that meet the income qualifying criteria are eligible)
- Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.
Applying Procedure For Free Home Phone Services On Food Stamps
The process of applying for free home phone service on Food Stamps is not difficult per se. However, you should first ensure that you are already enrolled for food stamps. If you are not enrolled of food stamps, you should contact your local food stamps agent and fill your states application form. After food stamps application, you should enroll for lifeline. You can enroll for lifeline online, via mail or directly through your service provider as discussed in this section.
1. Online method
Compared to other methods, this one is one is very convenient as you can make your application from the comfort of your home. Here are the steps that can help you apply for a free home phone service via the online method:
- Since you are applying for free home service via Lifeline, consider visiting nv.fcc.gov/lifeline and then key in your state or territory. After that, tap on the ‘Get Started’ button.
- If you do not have an existing account, you might be prompted to create an account so that you can carry on with the application process. However, if you have an existing account, sign in with your details and then proceed with next step.
- Once you log in successfully, you will be redirected to a different page where you will find an application form. Here, you will be needed to key in vital personal details so as to complete the form.
- Ensure that you have soft copies of your personal documents as well as eligible documents. Upload these documents and then attach them to your application form.
- Check if everything is correct and then click on the ‘Submit’ button.
2. Apply via mail
Apart from the online method discussed above, you can now apply for free home phone service on Food Stamp via mail. The following are the steps that can help you get started:
- Visit lifelinesupport.org/wp-content/uploads/documents/get-lifeline/LI_Application_NVstates.pdf and print the Lifeline application form that you find there.
- After printing the form, fill it with the correct details. These include your full name, date of birth, SSN, among other details.
- Ensure that you have hard copies of your personal and eligibility documents. Attach these documents to your application form so as to prove your identity and eligibility status.
- Check and ensure that everything is intact. Thereafter, send the document to Lifeline Support center for approval. The following is the address that you should mail the document to: PO Box 7081, London, KY 40742.
3. Via your preferred service provider
You are also free to apply for a free home phone service on Food Stamp via your preferred service provider. Fortunately, there are many carriers that participate in the Lifeline program. Depending on where you live, you will not miss a carrier that you can apply with and be able to enjoy some discounts on your monthly phone bill. More importantly, ensure that you fill in the application correctly and then attach copies of your personal and eligibility documents. These are documents like:
- Utility bills
- Lease or mortgage statement
- Birth certificate
- Identification number documents
- Food stamps approval, award or verification letter.
- Paycheck stub to prove your income
After attaching these documents, submit your application form for review. After review, get approval and start enjoying your free home phone services.
Free Home Phone Services With Food Stamp Program
Several service providers offer low-cost home phone services in the United States. Although these providers don’t offer home phone services that are completely free, you will be able to get discounts of up to $9.25 on your monthly phone bill. Please note that the discount to get depends on your service provider.
Therefore, if your bill was $15 and are eligible for the home phone service, be certain that you will have to part with $5.75 on your own. If you are a participant of SNAP, you can now go ahead and apply for this program from either the National Verifier or your desired carrier and reduce your home phone bills significantly.
Best Wireless Providers That Offer Free Home Phone With Food Stamps
As you already know, food stamps participants are automatically considered eligible for lifeline program. Once you qualify for lifeline, you might be lucky to get free or discounts on your home phone services which are usually paid directly to your service provider. Luckily, there are several companies that offer lifeline services to qualified consumers. Please note that not all lifeline companies offer free home phone services. Therefore, it’s good to call your provider’s customer service and inquire whether they offer free home phone services before enrollment. Below is a list of lifeline providers that are most likely to offer free or discounted home phone services with food stamps:
- Assurance Wireless
- Verizon Wireless
- Standup Wireless
- AT&T
- Assist Wireless
- Centurylink
