Tennessee was selected as one of ten states to get the federal funding to help get people participating in SNAP jobs that will ultimately make them self-sufficient. Tennessee has been hoping to be the model state in the country to get other states on board.
"Often times you'll hear people say that people don't want to work and things of that nature, but that's not the case," said Robin Bailey, Southeast Regional Administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service.
That's what the USDA, Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, as well as the Tennessee Department for Human Services, have been trying to change. The federal government has been funding participants in the Supplemental Nutrient Assistance Program get the training they need to make enough money to be self sufficient.
"I had odd jobs just to make it, but with SNAP, now I can ask for a certain amount of money and get it," said Kevin Ford, SNAP participant.
Ford said that this program has totally changed his life and it all started in a classroom. Now he has been able to provide for his family in ways he could not before.
"I'm able to provide, able to help pay bills, instead of just being here," said Ford.
Participants in the federal program must all go through a three-hour course for job search training, and then they will receive personalized plans to get them to their career goal. Many of the employers have been willing to pay their employees well.
"In some cases 40, 50, 60 thousand dollar jobs in a short period of time," said Paul Wheeler, of Huff and Puff Trucking.
Ultimately the more people that get back to work help people put food on their tables and get the economy and the state moving forward. Tennessee has been hoping to get more than 46,000 people jobs through this training, and the state will receive the federal funding for the next two years.
