Welfare Bath
Got a call back from my state benefits manager, and it turns out any cash benefits are only available if you don't go back to work within 45 days of when you submit the application, so if I had applied by June 24th I could have qualified, but instead I waited until I felt like I actually needed it, which was apparently a mistake. Also, I was under the impression that "emergency help" basically meant it would expedite any help, but it turns out it's a once-per-12-month payment to prevent eviction or utility cut-off. As for food stamps, the manager's going to see if she can get in-house approval for me to get an increase in my August food benefits and will send me information on resources to get food even for free. I called back after our call though and asked if maybe I could pre-emptively...
Fuck... This is the second time today I've had to rack my brain for this same word, and the first time was while leaving a voice mail... Appeal!
Anyway, I asked if I could maybe pre-emptively appeal to pre-date the cash benefit application, and also explained that Dad paid my landlord my July and August rent expecting me to pay him back but wondered if they could count that as an emergency for my August rent. I don't expect her to approve either of those, but I figured it was worth asking. It's weird how I feel better about relying on state welfare rather than relying entirely on my friends and family. I think it's partly that with welfare the help I'm getting is distributed progressively among the entire state, and to some degree national, population, and it's also more impersonal so I don't feel like I'm nagging individuals that I have personal relationships with to help me. I already felt like I fell to a new low when I basically panhandled Japanese Speaking Group on Saturday to get me enough money to buy a sandwich (which I ended up getting for half-off because it was a day old, and then spent most of the next 24 hours in cramps that made me want to cry).
Anyway, I don't know. I have an Anoka county case manager visiting me Thursday morning (thank God, since her office is in Anoka which would require me riding a triple-digit to get to and would generally be much harder than visiting a Hennepin county worker), so I need to think of some things I want to look into before then so we have a productive meeting. I'm thinking at this point that it'll probably be far too late for me to bother with short-term disability, the same way it was too late to deal with cash benefits, but I should at least be able to ask about Minnesota Care or other stuff. Maybe some sort of options to figure out how to improve my ability to work. Saa...
Fuck... This is the second time today I've had to rack my brain for this same word, and the first time was while leaving a voice mail... Appeal!
Anyway, I asked if I could maybe pre-emptively appeal to pre-date the cash benefit application, and also explained that Dad paid my landlord my July and August rent expecting me to pay him back but wondered if they could count that as an emergency for my August rent. I don't expect her to approve either of those, but I figured it was worth asking. It's weird how I feel better about relying on state welfare rather than relying entirely on my friends and family. I think it's partly that with welfare the help I'm getting is distributed progressively among the entire state, and to some degree national, population, and it's also more impersonal so I don't feel like I'm nagging individuals that I have personal relationships with to help me. I already felt like I fell to a new low when I basically panhandled Japanese Speaking Group on Saturday to get me enough money to buy a sandwich (which I ended up getting for half-off because it was a day old, and then spent most of the next 24 hours in cramps that made me want to cry).
Anyway, I don't know. I have an Anoka county case manager visiting me Thursday morning (thank God, since her office is in Anoka which would require me riding a triple-digit to get to and would generally be much harder than visiting a Hennepin county worker), so I need to think of some things I want to look into before then so we have a productive meeting. I'm thinking at this point that it'll probably be far too late for me to bother with short-term disability, the same way it was too late to deal with cash benefits, but I should at least be able to ask about Minnesota Care or other stuff. Maybe some sort of options to figure out how to improve my ability to work. Saa...