11/18/08 Bend
 
By Doug Johnson
 
Tuesday afternoon construction worker Andrew Stuart and his wife Chrystal Collins a student, signed up to receive food stamps from Oregon's Department of Human Services. The two have been married for almost three years, and have four children, the youngest just nine months old. Recently Stuart has had trouble finding work, and paying the family bills.
 
"So while I do what I can to pay our bills and stuff, anywhere where we can use some extra help is definitely appreciated, especially now when it's so hard to find work," Stuart says.
 
Stuart and Collins are not alone. DHS says requests for food stamps increased more in Central Oregon than anywhere else in the state. In Bend alone, there was a twenty four percent increase in food stamps and a forty six percent increase in temporary assistance for needy families or TANF which gives money to families with children. Overall in Central Oregon, including Redmond, Prineville and Madras, food stamps went up 25 percent, and TANF requests saw a 29 percent increase over last year. DHS says a lot of the new applicants are people who were stable in the past and thought they would never need help.
 
"So we have a lot of folks that were in construction area as well as real estate and folks that were entrepreneurs, in business for themselves," says Angie Albiar with Oregon's Department of Human Services.
 
Stuart and Collins say without food stamps, grocery costs account for about a third of their overall budget. And they know others who are struggling as well.
 
"I've personally helped four friends that I know get in the paper work," says Collins.