Monday, June 15, 2020
Dear Stakeholders,
Illinois is proud to now offer online purchasing for groceries for more than 1.9 million Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) customers across roughly one million households. This makes gaining access to food a little easier for so many families, both during this time of crisis and beyond.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved IDHS' SNAP Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Online implementation plan, which gives SNAP customers the ability to order groceries online.
Amazon and Walmart are the first retailers to provide online SNAP in Illinois as this program gets started. As national retailers with large delivery areas, we are glad that they are initial partners on this and will reach so many people right away. IDHS is also encouraging other grocery retailers to participate to deepen and broaden the reach of this program across Illinois communities.
Access to online purchasing for SNAP customers was automatically provided to all existing Link card holders.
This is just the beginning. This time of crisis has shown us how IDHS can provide more flexibility to serve the unique needs of our three million customers across the state. Whether services are delivered in-person, online, or in combination, we look forward to identifying other ways to improve our services to make it easier for everyone to get the help they need.
For more information about online SNAP purchasing, visit the IDHS Website.
Sincerely,
Grace B. Hou
Secretary, IDHS
