BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – WBRC is hearing from yet another Alabamian on SNAP who tells WBRC their benefits were stolen.
Criminals have spent years now draining people’s accounts before they can buy food for their families.
Patrice Leonard is one of their latest targets. WBRC viewers might recognize her and her son, Christian Savage. Savage is the teenager who was shot in the head while playing video games nearly three years ago.
Though Savage and his family are in better spirits, they’re now struggling to find food after Leonard’s EBT card was drained a few weeks ago.
“I have a son that’s disabled and I have other kids and this is our means to eat and make it through the month,” she shared.
Leonard is one of thousands of Alabamians who rely on food stamps to feed her family. She’s also one of thousands left with nothing after someone stole all the money in her SNAP account.
“When we were getting ready to check out, I swipe my card and it said zero dollars,” she recalled. “When the lady told me my card had a zero balance, I was like – ‘This can’t be right.’ Tears began to flow because all I could think about is how are we gonna make it through the rest of this month?”
That’s a question many in Alabama have had to ask themselves.
DHR reports in 2024 alone, more than $15 million in benefits were stolen from people in Alabama.
“To see the disappointment on my kids’ face for us leaving two baskets of groceries in the store because they’re not understanding what’s going on,” said Leonard. “All they see is mama crying.”
While some people have been targeted multiple times, this is the first time Leonard’s account was drained and it was after she took precautions.
“In certain cases they were saying to change your PIN before your stamps load on your card and which I did every month, change to a new PIN,” she shared.
While DHR used to reimburse stolen benefits, that’s no longer the case. Instead, people are left to fend for themselves.
“This was at the end of May when this just happened. So, now I have to wait all the way through June, to the end of June, to get a replacement and my biggest fear is, what if I wake up and they’re gone again?”
For the time being, Leonard is visiting different food banks and churches to find food for her family until her EBT account is filled again. Unfortunately, many of the places she’s visited have been pretty bare.
WBRC shared with her a resource through the Community food Bank of Central Alabama’s website. They have a “food distribution calendar” button and you’ll find a list of dates and times for food giveaways happening all across Central Alabama.
Leonard hopes to be able to rely on her EBT card moving forward, utilizing the new security feature where you can lock and unlock the card but she is still worried this could happen again.
When asked if she thinks the security feature will be helpful, she said: “To me, honestly, I don’t and I feel like we shouldn’t even have to do that, especially when it’s coming from the government. I don’t think that we should have to worry about whether we’re going to feed our children because someone have stolen all our stuff off our cards.”
Leonard would rather DHR get to the bottom of the fraud and prevent it in the first place instead of just bandaging over the problem. Still, she says she’s going to utilize every security feature possible.
If you feel led to help support Leonard’s family, you can donate here.
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