(February 11, 2004) - Sonja Chase and Mitch Rowe went grocery shopping together last week. Chase, 26, of Rochester, who has been helped by public assistance, and Rowe, a Monroe County legislator from Rochester, don't normally shop together.

But both are participating in Walk A Mile - a program that for most of this month pairs public officials with public assistance recipients to foster a better understanding between them.

Chase wants Rowe and other public officials to realize the difficulties of living on food stamps and to appreciate the purpose of public assistance.

"I'm like a success case," Chase said. "Yes, I am getting a little bit of help from public assistance, but I am working my way off."

Rowe, 41, of Rochester plans to invite Chase to a legislative breakfast with a community group, to give her a sense of the legislative process.

Walk A Mile began in 1994 with a project in Seattle that paired policymakers and low-income people, and now has spread to 24 states. Marjorie Beldue, a social worker and local representative of Genesee Valley Division of the New York State Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, is coordinator of the local project - the first time it has been held here.

Beldue recruited nine public assistance recipients and an equal number of public officials, mostly from the Legislature.

Chase dropped out of Gates-Chili High School in 1996 to take care of her mother, who was stricken with cancer. She has since earned a GED and hopes to go to college.

Over the past several years, Chase has been on and off public assistance, bouncing from one cashier job to another. But while in the county's work experience program, Chase has developed skills as an administrative assistant for the Peter Castle Family Resource Center, which runs pre-K and early childhood education programs.

Chase gets $320 a month in food stamps for a family of three. Rowe, with a household of four, has budgeted his family to live on $400 in food this month.

Rowe passed up several items that he would normally buy - including a turkey and fresh vegetables - to make sure that he would not go over his $42 budget for three days.

"Even though I've dealt with a lot of people on public assistance, I have never had a chance to sit down with a recipient and talk about her life and aspirations," Rowe said.