The maximum a single person can get in my state is $298/month. That used to be barely enough to eat on $10/day, which was already hard to make work and would still result in about a week without anything. With food prices going up, it's even worse.
this post was submitted on 22 May 2024
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Well, stop being morally weak and choose to not be poor!
And here my neighbor thinks “those” people are buying expensive cars and iPhones on food stamps. Sigh.
It is absolutely astounding the disconnect people have about the poor or disabled subsisting off of government benefits.
Most people on SSA or SSI get around 600 dollars a month.
Please try finding a studio apartment basically anywhere in the US right now for 600 bucks a month. Or even a room with roommates for that much.
Oh right, you need to make 3x the rent so... 200 a month.
Yeah you might be able to find a parking spot for that much.
Section 8? Housing Choice Vouchers? Ah ok first navigate a maze of either bureaucratic paperwork in person, which will take basically a whole day to get one step of the process done, or good luck figuring out shit tier local government websites that are often broken or just down.
You managed to apply? Wonderful! Your estimated wait time is some unknown number of years.
'Affordable' Housing? Well the actually affordable ones are all occupied and the 'Affordable' ones require you have more or less a the area median wage, so if youre disabled or underemployed, get fucked.
Most people do not even seem to know that EBT will only buy you uncooked, non heated food.
Every meal service you see advertised on youtube? None of them take EBT.
Oh but you get discounts on phone and internet!
Haha nope, Affordable Connectivity Program ran out of money a few months ago, and anyways if you have basically ever had a non ACP phone or net plan, you couldnt have qualified anyway.
But somehow these people with barely enough income to survive as homeless are considered to be just living the easy life.
if you’re able to get on disability, then you’re not disabled….
…
(joke being that it’s harder than a job, although not really and everyone on disability deserves more… also there’s disability lawyers and often family members to help you navigate the dungeons of paperwork and appointments, most homeless people have some sort of disability but most of them aren’t getting assistance beyond food stamps).
I know what you mean, took me almost a year of paperwork and in office visits to get on SSDI.
Its... amazing how many people I met, while homeless, barely ambulatory... amazing how many people literally died because some shelter staffer lost someone's mail, or someone's phone with all their info on it or their wallet or backpack got stolen when they were mugged, and that prevented them from being inside on a very hot or very cold day, or getting medication they needed.
Happened to me a number of times and for quite a long time I was convinced I was going to die.
Now its been six months halfway across the country in a roach motel I can barely afford, slowly recovering from my many, many torn ligaments and fractures.
In the end I literally just got lucky.
Randomly found a motel that I can afford, will let me stay monthly, and they also run an apartment complex thats cheaper, has a real mailing address, and because I make no trouble and have steady income, they may overlook my now horrific credit.
Oh yeah forgot about that. You know what you need to get nearly every kind of federal or state or city aid aimed at the homeless?
A mailing address. A place of residence.
Some shelters will let you use their place for mail buy as previously mentioned those places are staffed by the underpaid, overworked and often criminal.
And theyre all full, beyond full, nearly all the time.
Every time you see a news report about an encampment being cleared and the inhabitants being 'referred' to local shelters?
Yeah what that means is they give you the number of a shelter thats full.
Its fucked.
yeah… it’s pretty darned fucked
My state hasn't had the Section 8 waitlist open for two years.
Its nuts.
My schizophrenic friend has been on the section 8 wait list for 8 years.