If food that you bought with CalFresh was damaged or lost in an emergency, you may be able to get extra benefits to replace it. Request the replacement up to 10 days after one of these things happened:

• Damaged in a fire, flood, or other natural disaster

• Power outage

• Refrigerator or freezer stopped working

• Went bad after utilities got shut off

• Food bought with CalFresh was lost in another way

A county DHHS worker will figure out what percentage of your benefits can be replaced. It will depend on what happened, and when. Some people can get a full month's replacement, others might only get part of the month.

You will need to fill out the CF 303 replacement form, and submit the completed form to a Humboldt County DHHS Social Services office. Keep reading below for more info on where and how.

UPDATE on deadline to request benefit replacement due to March 2023 storms

March 2023 storms: California Dept. of Social Services is allowing households impacted by the storms that began on March 7, 2023 extra time to request replacement of CalFresh benefits. (Typically, the request is due within 10 days of the date the food was destroyed in a household misfortune.) The intention of this extension is for replacement of food purchased with CalFresh benefits that was lost as a result of power outages due to a series of severe storms impacting Humboldt and other designated counties.

Requests for replacement of CalFresh benefits must be submitted by April 6, 2023.

Replacements are authorized for the amount of the loss, not to exceed the monthly allotment and emergency allotment for the household.

Please follow the directions below on filling out the CF303 CalFresh benefits replacement form.

Download the CF303 form.

Obtain a form from a Humboldt County DHHS office (more info below).

Fill out the form over the phone with the DHHS Call Center (more info below)

Fill out the form from your BenefitsCal online account (if you have set it up. Instructions below on how to set one up too.)

Obtain a form from Food for People (more info below)

If you are submitting a CF303 replacement form yourself, here's where to send it:

You can submit the CF 303 form in several ways: in person to a DHHS office, via phone with the DHHS Call Center, by fax to the DHHS office, or online yourself via BenefitsCal.com. If you need help from Food for People's CalFresh Outreach staff, we can help you fill it out and fax it on your behalf. Instructions for each of these methods below:

IN PERSON

Submit the completed CF303 form to a Humboldt County DHHS Social Services office listed below:

Eureka 929 Koster St., Monday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

McKinleyville 1615 Heartwood Drive, Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m., closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m.

Hoopa 535 Airport Road, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m.

Fortuna 3306 Renner Drive, Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m.

Garberville 3156 Redwood Drive, Redway, Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m.

FAX

Fax the completed CF303 form to DHHS at (707) 269-3598.

PHONE

Complete the form over the phone with the DHHS Call Center 1-877-410-8809

Call Center hours are Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

*Please note that wait times may be longer than usual. Due to the wait time, you may want to consider another method.

ONLINE

CalFresh customers who have set up their online account in BenefitsCal.com can do the following:

Visit Benefitscal.com

To submit a CF 303 using BenefitsCal, please follow the directions below:

Log in to your BenefitsCal account

At the top of the page click “Help” and select “Forms” from the drop-down menu

Search for the “CF 303” form and download it

Complete the form

Go back to your Homepage and upload the completed document

Need assistance filling out the form?

Contact Food for People's outreach staff at CalFresh@foodforpeople.org or text or call (707) 499-6477 (this is a dedicated CalFresh Outreach mobile phone).

Our Eureka Choice Pantry staff can also help you fill out the form.

Visit one of our Mobile Produce Pantry sites near you, and we can help you fill out the form.

What if you're not currently enrolled in CalFresh?

Our CalFresh Outreach staff are here to help with the application process, the eligibility process after your application has been submitted to the County, and questions/tips on reporting and recertifying in order to continue receiving benefits. Once you are receiving CalFresh, it is important to take all the necessary steps to make sure benefits continue for as long as you need them, and our staff are experts in helping households with this process.

Call our CalFresh Outreach staff at (707) 499-6477 (text or call--this is a dedicated CalFresh Outreach mobile phone)

Email our CalFresh Outreach staff at CalFresh@foodforpeople.org

You can also call (707) 445-3166 extension 318 or 308. For Spanish language assistance, please use extension 318. (Please note that staff attend food bank activities all over the county and are not always at their desks, so the mobile phone number listed above in option #1 is best.)

To apply on your own, visit Benefits Cal or call Humboldt County DHHS at 1-877-410-8809.

You can also click here to visit our CalFresh Help page.