General Assistance Program – Minnesota

Minn. could join other states in cutting welfare programs for single adults, By Madeleine Baran, April 23, 2010, Minnesota Public Radio: “When Freddy Toran started going blind, he said he considered himself lucky to be living in Minnesota. Toran had moved to the state after he lost his job at a steelworker in Missouri six years ago. He found work as a baker in Minneapolis, but his vision started to fail. Within a few years, he was diagnosed with glaucoma, lost his job and ended up homeless. ‘From something to nothing in like overnight, that do hurt a person,’ Toran said. Out of work, broke and disabled, Toran, 49, headed to the Hennepin County welfare office, where he learned he could receive $203 a month from a state program known as General Assistance. Disabled and sick adults without children are eligible for the payments. Toran said he was surprised to learn of the program. His home state, Missouri, didn’t have anything like it. ‘We are blessed to have what we have here in Minnesota,’ he said on a recent afternoon at his new one-room apartment. The building sits next to the freeway near downtown Minneapolis, with a view of the shelter where Toran used to sleep. But Toran worries he could end up homeless again if the legislature approves Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s welfare cuts. In February, the governor proposed eliminating General Assistance, which covers about 19,000 Minnesotans…”