Film Highlights Philly Woman's Efforts To Save Food Stamp Benefits

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A Philadelphia woman was the only person on public assistance to speak at House Budget Committee hearings on Poverty.

Now, her experience is the focus of a new documentary.

Titled A Hug from Paul Ryan, the six minute film tells the story of Tianna Gaines-Turner, a married mother of three who is a recipient of food stamps.

"$25.84," she says. "Might not be a much for most people, but it's a lot for us-- it's a life saver right now."

She spoke at 2014 War on Poverty hearings in Washington as federal lawmakers made decisions on whether to cut benefits, and at the end, instead of a handshake, she gave House leader Paul Ryan a hug.

"I went hoping for them to get an understanding of what it's like in the real world, not their world," she tells KYW Newsradio.

"To show the human experience of what it's like to be living on the edge," adds Mariana Chilton -- director of the Center for Hunger Free Communities at Drexel and founder of Witnesses to Hunger.

Although Gaines-Turner's testimony didn't stop Republican proposals to cut billions from food stamps, she says it's important that the poor have their voices heard.

A Hug from Paul Ryan is part of Take 5: Justice in America -- a series produced by the AMC Network.

To view the film, CLICK HERE.

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