Food stamps, HEAP, is there anything else?

[abomgardner417]

Long story short, my husband is moving out and is stopping his paycheck from going into our account. I am a sahm going through cancer treatment and can't work at least until fall. It will be months before our dissolution/divorce is final and he's forced to pay me anything.
I've applied for food stamps, and HEAP and I know I may be eligible for cash assistance, but this will in no way cover my rent, car payment and insurance, gas and other incidentals.

I can probably move in with family once my lease is up in three months but does anyone have any ideas of things I can cut?
Right now I have rent, car payment, car ins, gasoline, electric, gas heat, a cell phone under contract until 2011. I have no cable TV, but do have internet as my MagicJack free home phone goes through my cable internet. I'm canceling the trash service and the renter's insurance once it's time to renew. No water/sewer bill and don't eat out, don't buy clothes/books/music. Obviously with cancer treatment comes a lot of co-pays.

Are there other assistance programs that I'm missing?
Thanks for listening!

[happyhats]

Oh, hugs. I'd think you could also get medicaid, off the top of my head. That will cover all those co pays.

Also, there's WIC if you have any children under five, there's HUD for housing assistance, and there might be something for short term disability but I'm not sure.

Also, if health allows go back to school. You can always get grants and loans to help you through until you can get some kind of degree that will help you support yourself.

What is the fee to break your lease? It might be cheaper than trying to sustain it. The same with the cell phone, etc.

[alicia622]

Not sure where you go for treatment, but there may be a way to get the copay's waived through some program they may have. A coworker of mine successfully secured 'charity care' at the hospital to pay for the balance of her adult son's shoulder surgery. IMO, cancer treatment would be viewed as more critical.

What state are you in?

: that seems really @#% of your STBX.

[leavemealone]

I don't know if you would qualify, but there is also TANF (that may be the cash assistance you mentioned). As other have mentioned, there is also WIC and Medicaid. You could also look into Section 8 as well as daycare vouchers for when you are able to going to work.

[ps4624]

I just wanted to send hugs your way

[cappuccinosmom]

WIC, medicaid, cash assistance?

[justmama]

you can file for child support BEFORE the divorce. it will only take like 3 months. if that. that's what we did. we've been separated 2 1/2 years and have only a child support order. we are going through legal services for the divorce so it's been a year so far waiting and i just signed the retainer so it will be filed soon hopefully. but as soon as he moves out, head to the court and file for support. if you get medicaid or TANF, they will go after your ex for support and medical ANYWAY. you have to provide that info unless there is a good cause not to like abuse. the child support plus food stamps, heating assistance, wic, and medicaid might enable you to get by. apply for section 8 housing NOW because the wait list is like YEARS long. Some states you can get in faster if you are in danger of being evicted for non-payment. Just so you know, if you get TANF(cash assistance or general public assistance, whatever it's called in your area) you will have to give up your child support and only recieve a pass-through payment of $50. So look at both amts and decide which works for you. Also, in my state(and several others I know of) there are programs to go back to school. I don't know what your medical condition will be in a few months but if school is an option, in my state they have the Family Independence Program. They give you pell grants(which you don't pay back) to go to a community college for 2 years to get an associates. You recieve TANF and food stamps and free child care and you are not required to work as long as you go full time to school. On summer break, they won't cover the cost of school so you work full time until school starts up again. It would give you a little time to get some education and become more marketable while enabling you to see your child more than if you were working full time if you schedule your classes right AND when the 2 years is up, you can work for better pay. I know it's not perfect, but it's something.
Did you try a wahm business? Medical transcription, writing articles for the newspaper, grant writing, crafting and selling it, selling things on ebay, editing, watching a few kids at home, etc. That may make you a little cash enough to stay home until your medical issues are under control.




So sorry this is happening. When my ex left 2 1/2 years ago, I was a disaster trying to care for 2 little girls with one on the way and no marketable skills and no education and ridiculously high rent and expenses. Life isn't perfect now by a long shot but we have food stamps, liheap, medicaid, and wic and we live off child support. But I get to stay home with my kids(due to the fact that it's too expensive to work). So there are worse things by far!



by the way, try calling 211 to see if they have any ideas. Also, call legal aid. DHS should have the number. They can get the process started for you for child support or even the divorce, depending on how fast you want to move. Medicaid can supplement the insurance through your husband so you don't pay ANY co-pays. My girls have insurance through their dad but our medicaid is our secondary coverage so we pay nothing. I just picked up my asthmatic daughter's pulmicort today and it's $545.99 for a month's supply. We pay nothing because of medicaid. If we didn't have medicaid, I wouldnt' be able to take them to the doctor at all because the co-pays are $25 a pop and I have 3 kids, inclduing the one with asthma on all sorts of meds.

[Thystle]

http://www.govbenefits.gov/govbenefits_en.portal




Yes apply for adult and kids Medicaid.


Wont you need to still throw out trash? If the worst were to happen can you replace everything if you cancel your renters insurance? Does it cost very much? Have you shopped around for prices?


I 2nd the school idea... you can even go online for some time.





{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

[abomgardner417]

Thanks so much ladies! I feel like there may actually be some hope!

To answer some questions...stbx has agreed to pay for all legal fees so that's not an issue...although he hasn't kept his word on anything else so far.

I was planning to go back to school but I'm pursuing a master's degree to be a librarian and I haven't found any grants yet that cover advanced degrees. I've searched scholarships too, but so far I don't fit any of the criteria. Now I'm starting to wonder if I should just give up on school (again! ) and just find any job I can. On the other hand, my boys are almost 4 and this is the best time for me to do it so that I can be done and working when they start 1st grade and we'll be back on our feet. I just don't know how feasible it will be.

No fee was listed in our lease and I've never even met my landlord so I'm not sure how well that would go over. Plus I can't afford to have my credit ruined right now. I quickly got the check for March rent out after stbx told me he wasn't paying it, so I only have two more months to pay. My cell phone contract would cost $145 to cancel, which is definitely cheaper than paying it every month, but I don't think I can spare $145 right now.

As far as trash, we only have a bag or two a week and I can dump those at my family's house for a couple months until we move. The renter's insurance won't be up until after we move so I'll cancel when we go and I should get a small credit.

Great idea to wah but cancer is unfortunately a full-time job. Getting on here tonight is the most time I've had to myself in a long time! Treatment causes a lot of fatigue and I have to rely on family members to watch my kids a lot of the time so I can rest. I would love to be able to watch other people's kids but can barely keep up as it is. I'd also love to knit and sell stuff but again time and cost of starting up are an issue. Definitely something to think about though once I'm done with treatment.

So I guess I need to look into TANF, WIC, medicaid, charity care, and hud. And talk to the lawyer about filing for child support immediately. I called her today but she didn't return my call...hopefully tomorrow.

It's so hard not to immediately panic and your help and hugs mean a lot so Thank you all!

[EricaDoula]

The AMerican Cancer Society has tons of money they offer to people in need. When my husband had cancer we got $800, but that was the minimum amount. So get in contact with them about some grants. Your oncologist office should be able to help you with that.

[abomgardner417]

Thank you EricaDoula. The funny thing is, all my docs and nurses know about my situation and even ask about it but nobody has ever mentioned any kind of help or referred me to anybody. Anyway, I go to oncology tomorrow so I'll ask to speak to a social worker or somebody. Thanks for the reminder!

[ian'smommaya]

your husband left you while your going thru cancer treatment? what a ua violation.

if your kids are over five or if you have one children over five and more under there is also m.a.c. (mothers and children.) its free food for women and children over the age of five.

i would talk to your land lord about your situation. if you rent from a small company, maybe they would allow you to break your lease.

cell phone, yes you are under contract, and i know it would be expensive in the long run to break it, but maybe you should consider it. i know your credit would take a hit if you didnt pay the cancellation fee, but it might be worth it.


good luck.

[KatWrangler]

Are you going thru treatment at a hospital? If you are get in contact with the hospital social worker. They will be able to help you.

I am so sorry you are going thru this.

[Auntie Sapphire]

Originally Posted by abomgardner417

Thank you EricaDoula. The funny thing is, all my docs and nurses know about my situation and even ask about it but nobody has ever mentioned any kind of help or referred me to anybody. Anyway, I go to oncology tomorrow so I'll ask to speak to a social worker or somebody. Thanks for the reminder!

Yes, definitely ask your health care providers for a referral to a social worker. If you have any trouble getting a referral, PUSH. This is part of the care you need.

[Tizzy]

For the cell phone, if you don't NEED it anymore, check with your provider - you may be able to transfer the contract to someone else. There are some swap websites (sorry, I'm not in the US and don't know of any off-hand!) where you can advertise for someone else to take it with no cost to yourself. Or maybe a friend or family member would be interested.

[waiting2bemommy]

If your boys are 3 already they can go to Head Start. I don't know what yours is like (some are great, some are horrible) but it is essentially free childcare (preschool, but they go 8-3 every day) which might help if you are having to go in for a lot of treatments, court dates, etc.

I think everyone esle has covered all the other bases. Also regardless of what your stbx says given your situation I would call legal aid and tell them your situation. They may be able to assign you a lawyer who can help move your CS order more quickly through the system. good luck!

And what a jerk your stbx is.....I'm so sorry you're going through this.

[EarthyMamaofDaisy]

LIHEAP should cover your heat and electric. Well, most of it anyway. We get a 70% discount on electric. You can also apply for a Safelink phone. You can either get a free cell phone (if they have it in your state) or a discount on your landline. There might be a transitional housing program where you live. Sometimes they are run through soup kitchens, single parent agencies or even some rental complexes have apartments that are income based. I would check with the local housing authority for a list of places to call. In the meantime you could check with your city/town's welfare office for a rental voucher.

[bobandjess99]

Maybe divorce is just WAY different in your state, but here, you go to a preliminary divorce meeting to set up things like custody and child support/alimony, exactly tpo prevent this kind of thing. then, that agreement stands while you go through the divorce, since the actual process of divorce can be extremely long. Are you CERTAIN you can't do something like that where you are?

[ian'smommaya]

i thought of a new helpful thing.

here, and in most states ive lived in (and i lived all the hell over.) they have a country program, usually run by the welfare office called emergency assistance. it cannot hurt to apply.

[Delicateflower]

Can you ask your landlord to start looking for a new tenant? Once they've found someone to move in you can stop paying rent.