#SaveMedicaid

Ben Oxley lives in McDonough, GA

What Ways Do You Use Medicaid? What Kind of Supports Do You Use?

I have a NOW waiver. I have support to get out into my community. I love to go visit a Monastery near my house. The trees on the grounds are beautiful. I have a friend who lives in Senoia, Georgia and I like to go visit him while I am in Senoia I like to go see the places where The Walking Dead is filmed. I hope to be an extra on the show someday. I also like to go fishing. I have a girlfriend and we do a lot of fun stuff together.

My Medicaid waiver allows me to have support to get and maintain a job. I have a job right now and my employment support person and I are working to get a new job at the new Atlanta Falcons Stadium giving tours.

What  Do You Think Your Life Would Be Like if You Didn’t have Medicaid?

It is time for people of faith and good conscience to speak up about hunger in this country. If you will recall one of the reasons I took the #SNAPChallenge in August was so that I could add my voice to the voices of people in my community who are committed to ending hunger. September is Hunger Action Month (#HAM). This month is a perfect container for education and activism around these vital issues.

1. Rabbi Brad Levenberg at Temple Sinai told me of his plans to do it and I wanted have an additional topic to discuss the next time we go to Nuevo Loredo Cantina for lunch.

2. I currently Co-Chair the Hunger Committee for the Faith Alliance of Metro Atlanta and I want to be able to have an experience that helps me understand the challenges of food insecurity in my community.

3. I want to use this #SNAPChallenge week to make my community more aware of the cuts to #SNAP that are on the horizon November 1st and hopefully while I am doing that to help people understand what action they can take to stop these cuts that will negatively affect the lives of 1.9 Million Georgians.

4. I want to begin a practice of being more aware of what I am spending  on food, what I am eating and what I am wasting. I hope the #SNAPChallenge helps me do that.

5. If self-reflection is the bedrock of leadership around issues of justice.  I hope that this week helps me take stock of some of the ways I have come to take getting and consuming food for granted.