Ginnie Graham: Tulsan to testify to Congress how anyone might need food stamps

Part of that was receiving food assistance through the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), once known as food stamps.

Many people have strong opinions about this government program, often pointing to perceived abuses.

Parker isn’t a guy to talk about his situation much, but he wants the critics to see the needs. He wants others to understand that anyone is at risk for falling on hard times and to have some empathy.

“Everyone can be affected by this. No one is immune. This is the only way I could have done it,” he said. “There was a time I was making tens of thousands of dollars a month to then barely scraping $40 together to have a roof over my head at night.”

Parker will be testifying at 8:30 a.m. Thursday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry on “Nutrition Programs: Perspectives for the 2018 Farm Bill.” His panel, which is being streamed online, will also feature Sam Schaefer, CEO of the New York City-based Center for Employment Opportunities, and Jimmy Wright, president of Alabama-based Wright’s Markets Inc.

Every five years, Congress passes a bundle of legislation referred to as the Farm Bill setting national policy for agriculture, nutrition, conservation and forestry. Of the $100 billion spending bill, about 75 percent resides in SNAP.

The biggest changes being debated include separating the agricultural and nutrition program and replacing nutrition programs with state block grants. Both proposals could lead to significant cuts to SNAP.

SNAP has become the nation’s largest anti-poverty program, helping about 4.6 million people including about 2 million children.

For Parker, he never needed government assistance until later in life. After graduating from Claremore High School in 1984, he entered the Navy, serving from 1985 to 1988 and getting married while enlisted.

He and his wife returned to Tulsa but only stayed for about 18 months until they decided to make a life in her hometown of Tokyo.

For the next 20 years, he operated English schools while he and wife raised two daughters, who are now an engineer and chef living in Japan. He talks of a happy life full of international food, walks by the river and a pastime translating for American professional wrestlers performing in the country.

Eventually, the marriage ended, though on good terms, and Parker moved to Tulsa to help his ailing father, who died two years ago.

He cooked at a chain restaurant for four years then got laid off. Nothing then seemed to go his way. His resume was skimpy and difficult to verify with sources located in a foreign country.

“It was hard finding a job to begin with,” he said. “After that, I exhausted the unemployment benefits and depleted my savings. That was $12,000 not to ever be touched, but it was my last option. I lost the rental I had and ended up having to stay in midtown budget motels. It’s hard to be productive at night doing job searches when you hear fighting going on outside.”

Parker didn’t face the types of mental health issues as some veterans, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. But depression comes naturally after being plunged into poverty and dealing with a parent’s death.

“It was humbling. I went from a life with luxuries in Japan to food stamps and having bouts of depression,” he said. “I would have insomnia and couldn’t sleep to then the opposite where I wanted to sleep all the time.”

He went to the Coffee Bunker, 6365 E. 41st St., a nonprofit coffee shop for veterans to connect. Once there, he found camaraderie and help getting into a veterans housing program known as BRRX4VETS through the Housing First program administered the Community Service Council.

“I went to the Coffee Bunker all the time, even for Christmas,” Parker said. “We’re a very close-knit people there. They treated me like we served together even though we didn’t.”

With cooking and food being a life-long interest and passion, Parker was admitted into the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma’s Culinary Trade Program. It’s a 16-week course intensive course that provides graduates with a food safety manager certificate, chef starter kit and ongoing support for job placement.

Parker is halfway through the program and fits right in. He enjoys the encouragement of being creative with his favorite Asian fusion while learning new techniques.

“This is family, and that’s what makes this special,” Parker said. “From the second day here, I was going to do whatever I could to prove I deserved to be here.”

Parker still needs SNAP to make ends meet until his graduation and landing a full-time job. He sees an end with the ultimate goal of managing his own culinary space, whether a food truck or restaurant.

“The most difficult thing a man has to do is ask for help. It hurts,” Parker said. “When someone helps you, you don’t forget it. I will be paying it forward. It won’t take me long to get back on my feet. It’s all coming together now, but it’s taken a long time to get here. I just have to have a little money to get by right now.”