Mary is a full-time mother of three – but that’s due to change in a couple of weeks. She is due to give birth on her birthday!  

Mary spends her day caring for her young children and making sure she gets to her doctor’s visits. She believes prenatal care is very important. Getting to the doctor isn’t always easy. Right now, her car is out of commission so - until it gets fixed - it’s a struggle to visit her doctor. But she does it. 

Mary and her children are on Medicaid. She is very grateful for Medicaid – she’s used it most of her life to tend to her medical needs. She is grateful that Medicaid has been there for her during her entire pregnancy. She is sure that without it, her oldest two boys would be in trouble because she uses Medicaid to purchase the medicine they need every month – and neither boy can be without his medication.  

Mary notes that one of her biggest challenges right now is making her SNAP benefits stretch out long enough to last a month. With inflation everywhere, she wishes DHS could increase this benefit so she could be confident that she can continue meeting her children’s needs. However, she does appreciate that she was given extra benefits over the summer while her children were home from school*.  

*Note: Students who are enrolled in SNAP or those who were eligible for free-and-reduced-priced meals through the National School Lunch Program as of May 31, 2022, are eligible for summer Pandemic-EBT. Children under the age of 6 who live in a household receiving SNAP benefits also are eligible for summer P-EBT