ourdoodah

by Cindy Stiteler

WHERE IS THE COMPASSION AND TIMELY HELP?

How many times a week do we hear that “America is the greatest          and richest country in the world”? If you are among the growing      number of thousands of people that have lost their homes due to  foreclosure, become homeless, penniless without any FUTURE            means of shelter or financial support to look forward to, the above      quote becomes meaningless.

STARTING AT THE BEGINNING IN NEW MEXICO

My 57 year old cousin arrived from California to my New Mexico  residence at the end of May with only those belongings she could      stuff  in her car. She lost her house in October 2008 due to foreclosure.  She  lived in her car until January 1, 2009 when a friend of a friend    invited her  to his residence in Nevada where he would give her a room    in his house  and would pay her to care for his granddaughter and  mother. It turned  out to be a household with abusive behavior where she was never paid and was hit by the mother on  numerous occasions.  There were drugs also being used in this house. With the help of a disability attorney,  she applied for food  stamps and SSI. She had been diagnosed with paranoia  and severe depression by a therapist recommended  by the state. She also has degenerative spine disease. She did receive food stamps for March and April 2009.  She was turned down for disability in April 2009 . The reason was she had “assets  worth $326,000.00 which  was the house she no longer owned. The attorney couldn’t figure out her house had been foreclosed on? He  quit the case after the denial. After She arrived at my home at the end of May, I gave her my guest house to  live in as my tenant had just moved out. I asked an appraiser friend to do a title search which took a few  minutes. I sent the title search which proved she had no assets, along with a letter to the Social Security  office in Nevada. Surprisingly, they called me and said they would reopen the case and send it to New  Mexico. This didn’t help as we had to start all over with every agency. We put in an application for Section 8  housing assistance and were told there was a 9-12 month waiting list. They won’t even approve my guest  house until she is approved. This seems like a waste of time and money.

THE JOKE OF HEALTH CARE

Shortly after arriving in New Mexico, she ended up at the ER to deal with the spine and back pain. We were there 31/2 hours after arriving at 7:30 am. The doctor saw her for less than 5 minutes, gave her a prescription for 15 pain pills  and depression pills. They cost over $100.00 due to her lack of insurance, which I  paid for. She was never told or offered indigent services. She was billed for the whole amount of $260.00.

THERE ARE CARING PEOPLE OUT THERE

The ER referred her to a medical group who would help her with her ongoing health problems. She was turned away after being told they were not a “free medical clinic.” I then called a low income clinic 20 miles north of here. This doctor was compassionate and truly cared about her physical and mental condition.

He ordered blood tests and back we went to the hospital where she was again refused treatment. After discussion with the head of the department, they said they would do the tests if we proved she had applied for NM low income insurance. Back we went to Human Services, where we were told the form would do us no good. I said, “please, just give us a copy” which they finally did. We went back to the hospital where they finally did the blood tests. Again, no mention of how to apply for indigent funds. They sent her a bill in full. That good caring doctor only billed her after she received medicaid.

HAVING  FUN WITH MENTAL HEALTH

On the second day after her arrival in New Mexico we went into the offices of Mental Health to get an appointment for her to be evaluated. We were treated rudely and after a brief interview to see who she needed an appointment with, they demanded money. She had none and explained this to them. They finally set her up for an intake evaluation. On July 14, 2009 she was diagnosed with Major Depression Disorder, recurrent, with Psychotic features. The report also goes on to say she is severely disabled due to her current diagnosis and condition. They recommended weekly therapy and monthly psychiatric appointments. She is compliant with all their recommendations.  She finally received the medications she needed to deal with this diagnosis, which I paid for since, without insurance, they were very expensive. On August 1st she was approved for Medicaid and was finally able to afford her prescriptions.

HAVING MORE FUN WITH SOCIAL SECURITY

A social security employee comes to our Human Services Department twice a month so our first appointment was local. The nice gentleman only took down information as he had no access to a computer. I called him back in a week and he said they were still waiting for paperwork from Nevada.

We made several more calls through the months of June and July getting frustrated by talking to yet a new person every time who didn’t know who was doing what. I finally asked a woman in the Albuquerque office who was who and she kindly explained that she was only working on the medical side of the equation and Santa Fe was working on the financial side. At last, a little clarity. Through due diligence of many phone calls, faxes and more forms to fill out, she was approved for SSI beginning October 1, 2009. She will get back payments from February 2009 deducting her 1st 2 payments from the state of New Mexico for August and September 2009. All in all it took 5 months of almost full time work to stay on top of the process. There are still little bumps in the road. The SSI office sent us a letter received today approving a payment to her attorney from Nevada. I called and said they should have a letter in their file from the attorney who stated he was removing himself from the case after my cousin was denied in Nevada. This important piece of information had been misfiled and thank goodness we caught it before the money was sent to him. Hopefully they will send her the back payments in full in a couple of days.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

I had absolutely no idea how difficult this process would be. There needs to be an advocate for every person needing assistance such as my cousin. She has been trying since 2006 and just couldn’t do all the forms and produce all the necessary documents by herself. Then she hired an attorney who couldn’t figure out a 1099A showing she lost her house in October 2008.

We need more compassion in this country.  Why not spend a tiny bit of stimulus money on more  staff for these state and federal offices? I can see why we have so many homeless people. Why do the homeless have to wait a year for assistance? Especially when, in this instance, I have a guest house available? Below is a list I found on a Colorado web site that helps with food for the needy. We should apply it to all forms of assistance.  It stated that in Denver, about 65% of eligible folks don’t apply for food stamps.

MORE CAN BE DONE TO CONNECT ELIGIBLE PEOPLE WITH BENEFITS.

AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL FOOD STAMPS MUST REMAIN A FEDERAL ENTITLEMENT PROGRAM.

AT THE STATE LEVEL, FOOD STAMP AGENCIES CAN MAKE IT EASIER FOR HOUSEHOLDS TO SIGN UP, INCLUDING ALLOWING THEM TO APPLY OVER THE TELEPHONE AND ON THE INTERNET AND ENCOURAGE PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMUNITY GROUPS TO PROMOTE PARTICIPATION AND IMPROVE CONSUMER ACCESS.

AT THE COMMUNITY LEVEL, BROAD COALITIONS OF STAKEHOLDERS SHOULD CONTINUE WORKING TOGETHER TO ASSESS BARRIERS AND CREATE OUTREACH PROJECTS THAT CAN GET APPLICATION INFORMATION TO PEOPLE WHERE THEY WORK, GO TO SCHOOL, SEEK HEALTH CARE, AND SHOP.  MANY FARMERS MARKETS ARE NOW ACCEPTING FOOD STAMP CARDS, INCREASING ACCESS TO NUTRITIOUS FRESH PRODUCE AND HELPING TO SUPPORT LOCAL AGRICULTURE.

AT THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL, WE SHOULD CONTINUE TO LOOK OUT FOR ONE ANOTHER.  INDIVIDUALS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY SHARING INFORMATION ON FOOD STAMPS AND OTHER NUTRITION PROGRAMS WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILIES.

AMEN