Dawn is a single mother, nurse, and legal assistant in Boise, Idaho who has always worked hard to earn a good life for herself and her son. In the wake of the Great Recession, Dawn's employer let her go without warning. Idaho's unemployment swelled to a twenty-five year high, and Dawn was caught in the middle of it. She looked everywhere for a job--even McDonald’s. They told her she was overqualified.

While she was unemployed, Dawn received SNAP (food stamps). The safety net was there for her family when work wasn't. It was hard (the average SNAP benefit is less than $1.50 per meal), but it helped provide nutritious food for herself and her son. She had to plan every meal of the month to stretch the food supply, and found herself grocery shopping late at night to avoid ridicule.

Dawn was so relieved to accept a job with the state of Idaho after about a year on SNAP. But she never forgot the undue shame that she was made to endure during that rough time--and the millions of others who still face it today in their communities. Now she's speaking out against the misconceptions that feed this social stigma.

Dawn was mortified when she was first asked to tell her story in public. But she knew she couldn't stay silent. Since then, she’s never turned down an invitation to speak out against SNAP stigma. She’s spoken at fundraisers, community events, and even radio interviews. Talking about SNAP at an elaborate benefit dinner charging hundreds of dollars per plate isn’t easy, but she does it anyway, reminding herself "It's not about me." photo credit: ReThink Church

Dawn calls hunger a ground zero issue: "If you can’t get out of your house, if you don't have the energy to think, you can’t speak out, you can’t run for office," Dawn says. "You can’t do anything when you're held back by hunger or too embarrassed to get out and accept help."

 In June 2013, Dawn brought her story to Congress in Washington, D.C., where lately SNAP and other safety net programs have faced severe cuts. She walked into her congressman's office and gave him her old SNAP card. "Okay, you have $3 to feed your family dinner tonight," she told him. "Oh, wait--Congress just cut SNAP and you now only have $2.70. Go for it."

Dawn uses social media to challenge assumptions about hunger and the stigma--including her Twitter account (@DawnPhipps). She tweets politicians regularly and is friends with them on Facebook. She even pins hunger awareness photos on Pinterest. The reactions she receives translate into volunteer hours, donations, and challenged assumptions.

Dawn says that most people she runs into in Idaho, including politicians, still think that food banks are the solution to hunger. So she works very hard to remind people that charity can't do it alone. The federal government provides 23 of every 24 bags of food assistance.

Like most Idahoans, Dawn has a firm sense of self-reliance. She considers it a strength, but fears that it can feed a hurtful stigma. She doesn’t understand why any person working full time at $7.25 per hour (Idaho's minimum wage) could be expected to support a family without help. "You’d have to work 86 hours a week at that wage to provide enough for just two people. The food's got to come from somewhere."

Like most Idahoans, Dawn has a firm sense of self-reliance. She considers it a strength, but fears that it can feed a hurtful stigma. She doesn’t understand why any person working full time at $7.25 per hour (Idaho's minimum wage) could be expected to support a family without help. "You’d have to work 86 hours a week at that wage to provide enough for just two people. The food's got to come from somewhere."

Dawn is confident that we can end hunger in America, but she admits that discouragement can set in when she thinks of the 50 million people who remain stalked by it. Advocacy has shown her that she's not alone in the fight. In Washington, D.C., she met people like former CongressmanTony Hall and learned about his work to end hunger in Ohio: "Did you know there's a city in Ohio that has no hunger? If they can do it—why can't we?"