Of course Money is what we all need and wish for... I guess I am feeling just a little depressed. I had a home session for Michael today. Trish is pretty much just there for support and to help me if I need information for anything with Michael. I love her, she is an great ally to have.
But she confirmed for me that in Iowa I need to have the waiver before I apply for SSI for Michael. The problem. I really need that money. And I guess it will probably be December as the earliest before it gets approved (after the appeal process) if I were to apply now...
I live on child support. It is embarrassing to admit that state Welfare checks are more than I get. But I would be required to look for and get a job if I were to get money aid from the state. And I cannot find daycare for Michael. They do not see his ASD as an excuse. I am great at budgeting in thigs. We have clothes, cable, net, toys, basic needs. But nothing else. I need a car too before I can start work. I can borrow my mother's durning the early day hours in exchange for her sitting on my computer using my internet. But I cannot go out of town when I want, or if I need to pick up something on a whim I need to hope she is awake and answers her phone.
I know there are all sorts of grants out there for single parents and parents of children with disabilities. But all the legit ones I have found go directly to the doctores and therapists. Currently that is not a problem since I recieve medical aid for Michael. Maybe it is crazy but I have this idea that fi I could just get a car then a chunk of my problems would be solved. I could look outside this town for a part-time job/daycare. I could plan a trip somewhere for me and Michael. I could save and take him up to see his father (not that that one is likely but hey are dreaming remember)
I have my little greedy car-seeking heart on a 90's Saturn. I had one when I was 17 and LOVED it. Unfortunatly I got it through one of those skanky bad credit no credit dealers and my mechanic honestly believed it was rigged to blow. We lost at court. Plus it had great gas mileage. I also have been thinking about a sexy little VW Bug. Of course again a 90's model. They are cheaper. But think of the gas on that baby. They are saying here in Iowa it can hit 5 bucks. Which makes me want to cry. I remember as a teen (ok like 6 years ago) 20 bucks paid for me to go to school 12 miles from home plus to work which was 20 miles. And I went up and hung out in the Lakes area on weekends... Now I would be lucky to be able to go around town a week on 20 bucks.
*insert pathetic sigh here* If anybody knows of any legitamate grant information, please let me know. I hate living like this, and honestly wish for something better. But in the meantime, I chug along and we have almost everything we need.
Hey there, I wanted paste
Hey there, I wanted paste this link to you--I would write more but I have to run out and do some errands while Wyatt is at school-- that TACA group that is out here now has nationwide affiliates and they have helped a lot of families in financial crisis. Let me know if the link doesn't work and I will cut and paste. Anyway, maybe you will find some info that you haven't seen yet. I'll write more later!
http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/fic/fic_overview.htm
Thank you I did not know
Thank you I did not know about this. Unfortunately I do not fit one part of the requirements.
I have not worked in over a year... And have had none of the other problems...
Experienced one or more of the following within the previous 90 days:
Other Catastrophic Life
Other Catastrophic Life Event...
That's the one. You could give it a go.
Look at it this way...okay say there is a family who is making $64,000 a year and their basement flooded last week. Oh my gosh! They have lived through a Natural Disaster (as outlined in the requirements)! They want to buy a $1400 trampoline that they can't afford because they spent all of their money on a recent vacation to Hawaii (which was great because their kid got to swim with the dolphins, which was ever so therapuetic). So they are applying for a grant. Oh yeah, and they live in a six bedroom mansion that they inherited and their kid has his own pony in the back yard for horseback riding therapy.
Then there is you, Single Mom, who knows she could make a better life, a more self-sufficient life, for herself and her child, if she could scrape together some finances for a car and insurance. Your catastrophe is that your son hasn't seen his father in over 6 months partly because you don't have a car and that it is a strain on you and Michael to have to depend on your mom for transportation. What if you had an emergency? What if you had a car and it blew up? Wait! That DID happen to you--and it has been several years and you haven't been able to replace it. Well, possibly applying for some of these things will net you as much help as if you had repeatedly knocked your head against a brick wall, but on the other hand, you never know...
Last year I spent a couple of hours filling out an application for a grant for three months worth free HBOT therapy (that is the experimental hyperbaric oxygen pressurized dive chamber therapy that they use on people with brain injuries). 40 families applied for the one grant and of course we didn't get it. But we did get six weeks of free couples therapy which was fun.
You've gotta be in it to win it, Ask and you shall receive, blah blah blah...okay I'll stop now :) I'll write more later!
On the application it really
On the application it really does not ask for proof of some tragic event. So I am thinking about as soon as I get my USB ports fixed so I can scan in proof of income and a doctor's note I will apply. The application to this looks really easy. Granted it is 1500 or less, but that would get me a cheap car, or put a downpayment on one... Although I have no idea how that would go towards my state aid and income based apartment. Thank you for pointing me towards it.
I am glad today is over.
I am glad today is over. Today I had a visit from my Regional Center case worker and one of the home visit supervisors.
They are both very nice people, but I always get stressed about straightening the house up and vacuuming. My house is very mid-1980's with all of the original appliances, even the enormous broken microwave which I use as a storage cabinet. The finish is coming off of my kitchen cabinets, my carpet--well, let's just not go there--, the windows haven't been washed since 2002, almost every wall surface has been drawn on by Wyatt, and the high ceilings have cobwebs that I can't reach. Marc calls our house the "cozily cluttered cave."
But anyway, the case worker arrived and we went over monies and programs that she's going to help me see if I qualify for.
She explained to me that when she talks about "waivers" it doesn't mean that I am waiving any rights, it means that the state is waiving looking at my income and that Wyatt will qualify solely on his disability (and not be disqualified because he has other insurance or income). So that was kind of cool.
So under a medical program (I think it is a state one) Wyatt will qualify for a prescription for diapers. Unfortunately, it won't be a voucher that I can take to Safeway for Goodnites, but I will have to get them from a "vendor" who produces a more medical "adult" diaper. I have heard from other parents that it takes up to a year to actually get any diapers from this program. Everyone tells me it is actually a Murphy's Law that if you sign up for this program, your child will absolutely be 100% potty trained by the time you receive any diapers. Therefore, I am very excited to apply for these hideous medical diapers because it is like a blessing/prayer/promise that we will not need them.
Another program that I can sign up for is IHSS (or some other similar acronym) where a different sort of social worker from the county comes to my house and will ask me how many minutes I spend changing Wyatt's diaper and how many minutes I spend bathing him, etc. On the forms I will have to fill out, I will be asked to prove that my son needs round the clock supervision and care. (Don't all kids?) Then they will send me a monthly paycheck because I am the primary caregiver. My caseworker said that it could work out to be maybe $100 or $200 a month. I will have to reapply for this every year. Again, I have heard from other parents that the paperwork is a nightmare and some even said that the money wasn't enough of an incentive to go through the process that it was that bad. Well, I guess I will find out.
After that, I asked about camps because I had read somewhere that the Regional Center pays for kids to go to camp. So she said yes, it had to be 5 days of day camp or less and could not be an overnight camp. Also, it had to be geared toward special needs kids (not like a YMCA camp or Boy Scouts). They said that what they do in our county is take a full month's worth of respite/babysitting hours away but give you the camp hours instead. That sounded good to me.
And lastly, I confirmed that they will pay $150 per year toward any special needs conferences or classes that I want to attend. So, I signed up for an Autism-Lyme conference today that is going on at the end of June. It looks interesting, but mainly it fit in with a visit from my mom who lives in Tucson. (You are lucky that your mom lives fairly close to you and you don't have to fly her into town or drive 7 hours just to see her).
Hi Wyattsmom, Marcel is in
Hi Wyattsmom, Marcel is in pullups. They're good
quality and they come directly to the door along with
two boxes of wipes and underpads that come in handy
for other messes lol. And it didnt take a year to get
them, have Wyatts developmental doctor contact them.
Here in San Antonio it's Davila Pharmacy. Marcel is
on SSI and medicaid, when you get SSI here you get
medicaid too thank God because his medications are
extremely expensive. Hospitilization and dental, all
that are covered. He gets a little check of about
$400 a month which comes addressed to me for him.
How old is your boy anyway? It'll be okay. Heck at least
you're not worried about things like camp. Marcel
is eligible for alot that we dont use because we
are so afraid he'll run off and because frankly we dont
want him around alot of people we dont know. My
son can't talk........ and if somebody mollests him I dont
wanta have to kill the sob ugh. Anyway the diapers
are fine, not to worry =) Cindy
Hey CarDreamer, hello again
Hey CarDreamer, hello again from your fellow blog dweller. I just looked at this posting of yours again and I think you might better off with the Saturn than the VW bug. My last car was a VW and it was only 8 years old but had very bad problems. I loved the car, both the way it looked and that it was so darn comfortable. Also, sentimentally, my dad not long before he died, picked the car out for me solely based on its good safety record (and that we got a deal on it).
Marc spent two years in Germany and during that time worked as a welder and got to know the culture a little bit, and the thing is that VW's are built for speed on the German freeways and they are not built with repairs in mind. The Germans have a way of using one screw to hold in six different unrelated parts simultaneously. After two years, many Germans drive their VW's over the Czech border and leave them there because they view the cars as disposable.
I've heard that Saturns have unique plastic panels that are easy and inexpensive to replace should you have a fender bender. That sounds good to me! But if you ask Marc, Toyota is the greatest car maker on earth--and it is true that he does drive his 1986 Tercel wagon that has over 300,000 miles on it.
I read both replies, twice
I read both replies, twice actually so I could make sure I soaked everything up.
Iowa seems slightly similar in regards to services. Once I get the MR waiver it means that Michael will not lose his state medical, and I will become elidgeable for respit services, and they say there are others but have not elaborated yet on them. There are camps discussed in the paperwork, but I have not heard of any actually happening around here.
Have you considered filing for SSI for Wyatt? I know it is based on income, and supposedly 600 or less a month, but for me I know every dollar counts. I am getting like 20 dollars less than court ordered on child support a month and it is breaking me. When you do not have a dollar, every dollar counts.
I do miss my Saturn and they are cheaper and probably easier to find around here. Mine was great. It is true they are made witha heavy-duty plastic. Even parts of the engine. Which makes them alot lighter. Windy days took some getting used to. My only problem with that was they do not dent. Someone opened their door into my passenger side, unfortunately I did not notice until weeks later probably. But it literaly broke the plastic. But it take alot to break it. Considering they used to advertise them by ramming shopping carts into the side :)
I am happy to have gotten your tip about the Bugs. Heaven forbid I won a sum of money and went and bought one. They are cute, but sounds like not worth the risk.
I have been a little depressed the last few days. Money as usual. Around here it seems to be contagious, we all have the blues. Even if I could buy a car, right now I could no afford to even use it. So all I can hope is that they get the MR waiver done soon so I can start fighting with SSI to get that started.
Last week I was horribly
Last week I was horribly weepy and depressed, the worst I've ever been, but I think it was just hormones. They do say that at 37 a woman's body chemistry changes drastically. I used to think, yeah right! 37 is such a weird number, that can't be true. But now I think maybe they were right.
This week I am totally stressed. Yesterday I promised I would take a down-and-out neighbor to LAX airport (laid-off, 85 yr old mom in hospital in Michigan, generally bummed out). I felt bad for the neighbor and he reminds me of my dad.
When Marc got home and I told him he was annoyed and went on and on and said it was too far to drive and I wouldn't get back in time before Wyatt was home from school, gas is expensive, he didn't want me to get distracted and have a car accident (that has been known to happen), etc. Marc continued chewing me out this morning and he agreed to go over and tell the neigbor we would be willing to put him on Amtrak and pay for his ticket. Fortunately, my neighbor was okay with the change and isn't mad at me. But I did lose some sleep for worry about it.
The past 2 days it was 90 degrees out, and today it is blustery and I'm freezing! Marc insisted on having every window open before he left for work. I swear, it is cold enough for icicles to form. My other neighbor is coming over to babysit while I take Down-and-Out to the train station and my house is going to be embarrassingly cold. My life feels really complicated this week.
Last summer some kids took a
Last summer some kids took a BB gun and made a big BB crater dent in the door of our newer car. It took the paint off, so we were forced to get it fixed or rust would set in. Our deductible was $500. So we had to pay $500 because some jerky bored kid vandalized our car. I'm pretty sure it happened in a posh neighborhood where we often park to take evening walks along a local lagoon. Because a couple of weeks later when we were walking back to our car, we noticed some kids hiding in the shadows and then we saw two police officers and a baseball bat on the ground.
To make matters worse, the body shop did a bad job on the repair, so the car will never be the same.
I am still a little
I am still a little depressed. I spent a few hours crying yesterday because I am not sure if I can make it through the summer on this budget, but I have to keep trying. Some good sleep and such I feel a tiny bit better. Of course now I have to peel my nose from crying.
As always, I wanna write
As always, I wanna write more later, but I was talking to a friend of mine who used to work in Washington DC in an office that approved federal grant monies. She mentioned something about United Way. Not sure what part of the state you live in, but here's one link for central:
http://www.unitedwaydm.org/aspx/gethelp/
I live in NW in Clay County
I live in NW in Clay County actually, but the site has things for the entire state. There is not much right now but I will bookmark this site in case I need something else they can provide. THANK YOU!
Just a couple of
Just a couple of suggestions........ I'd check
craigslist in your area for a car. You might even
ask if somebody would be kind enough to donate
a car to a single mom and a special needs child.
there are good people out there. Craigslist is also
a site to get good freebies =) and for food you can
save quite a bit of money by going to Angel Food
Ministries. You can get a nice big box of good
restaraunt quality food for $30 and they dont care
what your financial situation is. We have done
that twice and were amazed at the quality and the
ammount of the meat you get. Something you should
know about me, Im cheap lol. Im FRUGAL. Im that
way by nature and its a good thing because the way
the economy is if I wasnt this way we'd be in a heep
of trouble ugh.
That reminds me, because of
That reminds me, because of Earth Day, I found out about a network of Yahoo groups called FreeCycle. The idea is to keep more stuff out of landfills and also not to drive far to "recycle." So you find your local FreeCycle group and sign up, then when you have something you want to get rid of, like a futon frame or whatever, you post it. And if you want something, like an exercise bike or balls of yarn or whatever, you post that, too. Last week on FreeCycle, I gave away a bag of game tokens for a pizza place that I can't go to with my son because it is a little too quiet in there.
I am actually a member of
I am actually a member of the Spencer Freecycle. I got my bed 2 dressers and a toy bin organizer that was in perfect shape and I priced at 60 bucks from Target. The woman was so eager to get rid of some of it she was trying to give me more. It was all in great shape. Her husband even delivered it all for me. He is the cheif of police in a town just north of us. And then I also got a treadmill a few weeks ago, and have a hope of finding a used portable dishwasher.
Long live FreeCycle!!!
Long live FreeCycle!!!
The way our economy is you
The way our economy is you have to be frugal or
you wont make it. I was joking abou the big screen
lol. I would say a good 75% of what we own is used,
from a thrift store. I was talking to our respite care
provider recently and she said she ran into a boutique
owner at a thrift store who just goes to thrift stores
and buys dresses and then slaps a high price on the
clothing and resells it. I had a friend tell me one time
"Cindy even if you won the lottery you'd shop at
thrift stores" she was right lol. If you really need
something or really want something you have to
be creative when you are on a budget. Personally
I like the challenge!!
I like your style, Cindy! I
I like your style, Cindy! I agree that if I won the lottery (not that I am in any danger of that because I haven't bought any tickets for a long time), I would be so stunned that I'd probably just leave that big old pile of money sitting in the bank for a few months. We've all heard about people winning these giant jackpots only to end up even more broke than before, with no friends left. So people like you and me have it all figured out :) If I win, I'll swing by your house with a limo and we'll celebrate by hitting all of the thrift stores within a 100 mile radius.
Thank the Heavens for
Thank the Heavens for Wal-Mart. I live on less than state welfare, but yet I seem to have more than my neighbor. Her rent is more, but our electric should have run close to the same. Not my fault she is STILL running her heat and killing us. If you prioritize then you can make it work. I had internet to pay and of course my electric and rent. That took up most but I could still buy movies and clothes and such each month. Now I have a cable/phone to add on to that. Not that I really use the houseline because I have my cell. Yet she is always broke, always out of baby wipes, low on diapers. Her April rent is still not paid, and this month is past due. She finally has a job, but still poorly managing. I would think diaperwipes would be more important than beer, or new clothes for herself. But that is just me.
This is popular! Start a
This is popular! Start a new blog entry and just call it
$$$ MONEY $$$