Food stamp center opening tomorrow in Slidell

Slidell Mayor Ben Morris said Department of Social Services personnel will be at the John Slidell Park gym tomorrow through Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. accepting disaster food stamp applications from residents, the second such facility opened parishwide.

The move comes after Tuesday’s debacle at the Mount Olive AME Church where hundreds of people showed up to apply for food stamps after erroneous information was released that the Council on Aging St. Tammany would assist the elderly with applications there.

The only disaster food stamp location opened in the parish after hurricanes Gustav and Ike was situated in Mandeville at the Castine Center in Pelican Park.

Some seniors COAST regularly services were unable to make the trip, so Director Mary Toti decided to bring the applications to the group’s different locations across the parish, help the seniors fill them out then submit the applications to DSS for processing.

Toti said it’s unclear how the false information originated, but Slidell officials issued a press release Monday stating COAST would be at the church offering assistance to the elderly.

The release was printed in local newspapers, which led to the frenzy of nearly 200 people showing up at the location for food stamp assistance.

Even with the influx of people, though, Toti said they called for additional help and “handled it” any way. She said they had no intention of setting up their own disaster food stamp locations to assist the elderly population, only their usual visitors.

“I’m not sure why they would do it for a small select group,” Morris said.

After the debacle occurred in Slidell, leaving hundreds of residents waiting for hours in long lines, Morris said Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office contacted him in search of a location in Slidell to accept food stamp applications.

“We canceled the scheduled events at the gym so the DSS can use it,” Morris said.

Until now, the only disaster food stamp center operating in the parish was in the Castine Center, but Diana Talley with the St. Tammany Parish Office of Family Support, who is working with the DSS, said that center will close today.