FoodShare Resources
Receive Help With Your FoodShare Benefits
Food is a Human Right.
FoodShare is a federal program and Wisconsin’s first line of defense against hunger. Funded 100% by the USDA, FoodShare is an entitlement program, meaning it assists people who have low incomes and difficulty affording food to get monthly help to make ends meet.
FoodShare provides food buying power at the grocery store through an EBT card called Quest. Eligibility is based on household income, size and shelter costs. You can apply online, over the phone, by mail or receive in-person help.
The application will open in a new window through the State of Wisconsin website.
Stay Up-to-Date With FoodShare News and Updates!
Stay informed to make the most of your benefits. Keep up with important updates, policy changes and news related to FoodShare and Summer EBT benefits.
1) Receive Assistance In-Person
You can apply over the telephone, using a computer, by mail or by visiting either the traditional welfare office or one of our self-help centers. Hunger Task Force staff can help you by providing fast and friendly care!
All Hunger Task Force services are free. Connect one-on-one with our FoodShare Advocates to apply for benefits in about 15 minutes. Our team serves tens of thousands of people every year, both in-person and over the phone.
Hunger Task Force staff speak English, Spanish, Hmong, Lao, Karen, Burmese, Pashto and Dari.
2) Apply For & Manage Benefits Online
You can apply for FoodShare, manage your case, check your balance and submit documents online at access.wisconsin.gov. If you are unemployed, we encourage you to apply for both Unemployment and FoodShare.
You can apply online, complete your eligibility interview over the phone and use the MyACCESS app on your smart phone to upload required proof called “verification” and manage benefits.
TWO LOCATIONS, NO APPOINTMENT NEEDED!
Alicia’s Place FoodShare Resource Center
4144 N. 56th Street, Midtown Center
414.988.6501
Robles FoodShare Resource Center
723 W. Historic Mitchell Street
414.238.6484
See If You Can Get Help!
Answer a few questions to learn which programs may be able to help you.
Wisconsin has many different programs that can help you with health care coverage, paying for food or child care costs, finding a job, and more.
The questionaire will open in a new window through the State of Wisconsin website.
Help For Seniors
Hunger Task Force helps connect low- income seniors to programs that provide access to healthy foods.
Help For Children
In Wisconsin, 1 in 8 children face hunger. Participation in child nutrition programs has been found to reduce food insecurity.
Help For Individuals
Hunger Task Force helps connect low-income individuals to programs that provide access to healthy foods.
Tips for protecting your FoodShare benefits:
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- Monitor account balances on the MyACCESS mobile app or ebtEDGE website or mobile app.
- Add or change optional account passwords to limit unauthorized access.
- Do not share account passwords and PINs with anyone who is not part of your household.
- Create unique account passwords and PINs.
- Avoid using email addresses and the names of family members and pets for passwords.
- Avoid using your birth date and year, as well as repeating numbers, such as 1111, numbers in a row, like 2345, and numbers that follow a pattern, like 1212, for PINs.
- Temporarily freeze QUEST cards between uses by using the ebtEDGE website or mobile app. When members need to purchase food, they will need to unfreeze their cards using the ebtEDGE website or mobile app. This helps prevent unauthorized benefit use.
- Block out-of-state and online purchases. Members can turn off this feature before traveling out of state or shopping for groceries online.
- Confirm that an email or text about your FoodShare benefits is from DHS, not a scammer. DHS sends official FoodShare texts from 94347 (WI DHS) and emails from [email protected]. DHS FoodShare texts and emails never ask members for personal information, such as a birthday or Social Security number, or financial information, like a bank account or credit card number. DHS does not offer prizes or money to members for responding to these texts and emails.
Who you should call if you have questions about your FoodShare benefits or to report suspicious account activity?
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- Check your FoodShare card balance by calling QUEST Card Service at 877-415-5164 or using the MyACCESS mobile app, ebtEDGE website, or ebtEDGE mobile app. Using only these tools to check your card balance helps prevent unauthorized card access.
- Call your local agency to ask about suspicious FoodShare account activity, check account information, establish an account password, and ask general benefit questions.
- Call QUEST Card Service 24/7 to change PINs, immediately report lost or stolen cards, and to report suspicious FoodShare acount activity outside of your local agency’s business hours.
- Report any emails or texts about your FoodShare benefits that are not sent to you by DHS to the agency that issues your benefits and Wisconsin’s Consumer Protection Hotline at 800-422-7128 or [email protected]. This hotline is run by the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Be sure to avoid clicking any links in the email or text message or calling the phone number that sent you the text message or any phone number in the message.
Food is a human right. Know your rights.
FoodShare will have work requirements.
Work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWD) are coming back – but you may be eligible for an exemption.
Some FoodShare household members may have to follow FoodShare basic work rules or meet the FoodShare work requirement to keep getting FoodShare benefits.
Over the last three years, these requirements have been waived in coordination with the Public Health Emergency. This pause in work requirements has now ended.
Starting in October 2024, if you’re between the ages of 18-54 without a dependent, your FoodShare will have time limits that may cause you to lose your benefits for up to three years.
For assistance, contact Milwaukee Enrollment Services (Milwaukee County residents) at (888) 947-6583. If you’re not a resident of Milwaukee County, find your local agency HERE.
Our FoodShare Advocates are trained to help you navigate and maintain your FoodShare benefits. Visit or call one of our FoodShare Resource Centers for help. LEARN MORE
Printable Resources
These resources provide helpful information in an easy-to-read, printable format to share. Learn more about Emergency FoodShare benefits, how to apply and information about the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program with the flyers below, available in English, Spanish, Hmong, Burmese and other languages.
Video Resources
SNAP (the federal term for FoodShare) is hands-down, the best anti-hunger program in the nation. For more than 40 years, it has proven over and over to respond to economic crises, so if families lose work, they’ll still have some help putting food on the table.
FoodShare News & Stories
Hunger Task Force Files Civil Rights Complaint Due to Ill-advised MiLES Closure and Move
Complaint sites institutional bias and continued disparate treatment against people of color, precariously housed and limited English proficient in need of services in Milwaukee.On Monday, October 31, Sherrie Tussler, Executive Director of Hunger Task Force, presented...
Milwaukee Veteran Encourages Other Seniors to Apply for FoodShare
Alan, a retired veteran, living in Milwaukee, heard about FoodShare through a friend. “I didn’t know about FoodShare until a friend told me about it,” said Alan. “I might have seen it on TV or something, but it didn’t register that it was for me. I’m single and I’m...
Food Is A Human Right, But Too Many In My Community Are Struggling To Buy Food
We do not ask for help. We do not tell anyone when we struggle. Too often, we refuse to share our pain, struggle or sorrow until we simply cannot hold it in anymore. That is, it seems, what it means to be a Black person in America. Too often, we are afraid to be...
Hunger Task Force Invited to Speak at White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health
Sherrie Tussler will join other anti-hunger leaders from across the nation at the White House. On Wednesday, September 28, 2022, Hunger Task Force's executive director, Sherrie Tussler, will speak on a panel during the Biden-Harris Administration's White House...
Hunger Task Force launches “Food is a Human Right” campaign with mailing to 22,000 Milwaukee County residents
22,000 Milwaukee County seniors suffer hunger while up to $27.5 million in federal aid awaits Hunger Task Force has announced the “Food is a Human Right” campaign, citing recent data provided by the State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services. “The State has...
Outpost Natural Foods and Hunger Task Force Launch Produce to the People Discount Program for Wisconsin FoodShare Participants
First of its kind Program in Southern Wisconsin Provides 50% Discount on Fresh Produce Milwaukee, WI, May 20, 2022 – In just a little more than a month, FoodShare Wisconsin participants have purchased more than $20,000 in fresh produce at a 50% savings as part of a...