EBT cards causing hardship for some Toombs Co. residents

TOOMBS COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Several people in Toombs County are struggling to buy basic necessities for their families.

Buying groceries and accessing benefits is something many Toombs County residents tell WTOC they simply cannot afford, once their EBT card declines.

“It’s hard for me, as a single mom trying to do all I can for my child,” said resident Tangela Doe.

Doe is one of many who says her EBT card stopped working.

It’s an issue that many residents statewide have been experiencing since July.

That’s when the Georgia Department of Resources office tells WTOC that the statewide cyber-attack into the state’s system, impacted their operations.

Doe says that right after the cyber-attack her card declined for the first time.

“That was 300 hundred dollars taken off my card,” said Doe. “When I got to the grocery store, I was embarrassed because these scams were taking money off people’s food stamp cards and that’s not right.”

The department has confirmed with WTOC that every resident impacted has received a new EBT card since then.

With the new card, DHS says there are instructions on how to properly activate the card.

However, some residents like Ebony Thomas say that even after following the instructions, their cards still do not work.

" When I went to use it, it didn’t work,“ said Thomas. ”I went to the website, it says the card is not registered in any state, not just in the state of Georgia. It’s caused a hardship for my family. I have three daughters, one of them is a senior this year and so there is a lot of expenses, even being employed. It’s still a lot to feed my family.”

Thomas says she has been to the local DHS office several times and has even traveled to two other offices as well.

“They take my number down,” said Thomas. “It’s only the receptionist. They say I don’t have a case manager, there is no one assigned to my case. There is no one to speak to.”

A DHS spokesperson has shared this email, customerservicedhs@dhs.ga.gov, if you are having trouble accessing your EBT card.

However, people like Tangela and Ebony say they need help now.