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I have wondered this, too. Sometimes I carry a little bit of guilt because I have chosen to distance myself from my mother. I have my reasons, and I believe they are good reasons, but the fact of the matter is... that now she is becoming an older person with health issues and I don't know how much longer she will be able to live on her own. She has never earned much money at all, she was the neighborhood babysitter for years and now she works a part-time min. wage job (less than 20 hours a week). She lives with my sister, who wants mom to move out because she/sister wants to live on her own. (My sister had a baby and the father didn't stick around, so mom and sister helped each other out - mom babysit the baby while sister finished school and got a job. Now sister has a good job and wants to live with just her and her daughter. Mom is getting on her nerves.)
If I were a single person, despite how toxic I feel my mother is for me, I would at the very least let her have a room in my house and make sure she has food and medical care. However, I'm married with kids, and she doesn't like my husband (he's not white; she is racist).
Anyway - I see a situation with my mother where at some point, she's not going to have anyplace to go. What happens to people like that? Does the government step in and help them? Or is this why we're seeing so many homeless people on the street?
Companies used to have pensions, and between pensions and SS retired people could get by. These days, it's not the same. You're really lucky if you have a pension, and SS is a joke. Most older people also have a house they can sell to help pay for moving into a retirement home... but these days a lot of people - my mom included - don't even have that.
This is indeed why you see so many homeless people around. People who are just barely scraping by get evicted and never manage to get a place to live organized again. They wander between shelters and one thing and another. Some are lucky enough to cross paths with a social worker who helps them access services, but it is a cumbersome and often lengthy process.
So what is your sister's plan? One thing she may want to try is counseling. Lutheran Social Services, Catholic Social Services... many of these type agencies have counseling available to help people maintain their housing situation. If your mother and sister work out a way to get along better, that might help.
Depending on the state, there are services available to help people who have nowhere to live and no way to support themselves. Some states, such a North Dakota, have very little. Others, have a bit more and are sometimes able to cobble together subsidized housing, food stamps, etc. It's a meager existence, but it beats living in a shelter or under an overpass.
You'd have to check with social services in the area your Mom is living.
The ones squeezed the most, are the ones with just "enough" to NOT qualify for public housing...
Correct. I would have started drawing SS earlier if I had known that. Now I'm just above the assistance line. There should be schools on this stuff in High School.
They could vote democratic, get free Obama care, free cell phone, food stamps, free housing and utilities, free nursing home, free furniture, if you have nothing you don't need auto insurance, life insurance, or renters insurance. Now your middle class. The next question is why work?
They could vote democratic, get free Obama care, free cell phone, food stamps, free housing and utilities, free nursing home, free furniture, if you have nothing you don't need auto insurance, life insurance, or renters insurance. Now your middle class. The next question is why work?
If you know how to access all these things, please do advise us. I know some people who need them.
You list a variety of programs, some Federal, some available only in certain states, and make it sound as if they are there for one and all, just for the asking. Yes, some people are looking forward to some IMPROVED healthcare in 2014 (thanks to Congress, not the president who doesn't pass legislation), but FREE and unlimited? What is free will be available to those who truly are in need. At-risk children, the working poor still living far below the poverty line, people who have accessed minimum Social Security but aren't yet old enough for Medicare. And that's only provided you don't have a Republican governor who is turning away FEDERAL money that would pay for this assistance. Which quite a few of them are doing ... so they can demonstrate their "principles" at the cost of some people's lives. There will also be some rebates and formerly unavailable alternatives for the rest of the working class. But FREE? No.
Thanks to both of you for posting this information.
I am amazed at the misinformation that is out there. I can't tell you how many times I've read that people can get free housing, free cell phones, free furniture... from the government.
Subsidized housing is generally one third of your income, not free. And even that depends on whether your name comes up on the wait list. Cell phones, furniture, and so forth are sometimes available through agencies like the Salvation Army, but have never heard of a government program providing these.
Despite all the talk about moochers living high off the hog, the people I've seen who receive government assistance are living a meager existence. Many have mental health issues, cognitive or physical disabilities that make it difficult to earn a living. 50% of families on food stamps have at least one family member working at low-wage jobs. Those on Social Security/Medicare have worked their whole lives.
For the life of me, I don't understand this bitterness about helping out the less fortunate.
Who would want to live in a country where children go hungry and old people beg on the street?
Last edited by GotHereQuickAsICould; 10-17-2013 at 08:57 AM..
Subsidized housing is generally one third of your income, not free.
...the people I've seen who receive government assistance are living a meager existence.
I am amazed at the misinformation that is out there.
Next time you hear such consider how they got misinformed to begin with.
When our government provides subsidies/tax breaks, corporate welfare if you will, to large agri-businesses, oil companies, etc., that money is just as likely to end up sheltered in Cayman Island bank accounts as it is circulated through our economy.
When our government provides subsidies to individuals, welfare as if you will, that money gets circulated through our economy.
For example, if WalMart gets a tax break/subsidy, do you think they are going to hire more cashiers with the extra money?
What about if WalMart customers get a tax break/subsidy? How many extra cashiers will be working if that happens?
It's the law of supply and demand.
Helping people out who are struggling is not only the moral thing to do, it adds jobs to our economy.
Win-Win as I see it.
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