My housemate just got turned down for SSI. I don't know what

[JoDog]

we are going to do.

I share a house with my 2 friends (married, both disabled) and my sister. My sister has decided to move out. Out of the married couple, only one was working, and is now unemployed, getting unemployment for over a year. The wife is disabled, hasn't been able to work for years. Finally decided to apply for her SSI, and now she has been refused. The earliest she can see a lawyer to help her challenge it is sometime in June. The lease is up a week from Monday. June's rent (if we re-sign) is due the day after that. I still do not know if there will be a rent increase. As things now stand, I need to come up with an extra $308 by June 1st to cover the rent. I might be able to do it once, but after that is dubious.

And before anyone says, "pack up and move out"--These are my 2 best friends. I have pets I may not be able to have with me somewhere else. And every extra dime I have earned over the last 6 months has gone into a business that has yet to get off the ground. So I have nothing for a security deposit.

I don't know what to do. Every time I try to talk to them about it, everyone loses their temper.

[Swede]

1. Can you ask sis to stay until things improve a bit?

What a hard situation to be in.

[Deep13]

2. "Every time I try to talk to them about it, everyone loses their temper."

If they won't even discuss the matter, pack up and move out.

[RandomThoughts]

3. Anger can be a blocker so people do not feel and think.

You have to defuse the anger with kindness then ease back into the conversation, it is a balance of rational thinking and feeling. You have to get past the anger and pull them above it to reach them.

Many times anger will try to stop feeling and thinking, find the cause of the anger, if they think on that it will turn to a bit of sorrow usually, anger is protecting from facing that sorrow, then also chase that sorrow away the with kindness, many times it comes from guilt or fear, so they have to find a way to feel forgiveness knowing everyone is flawed, then sometimes you can reach the person.

Or that is how I have noticed it happening.

[Kali]

11. nice post

:thumbsup:

[foxfeet]

4. Even if your friend meets with a lawyer today,

it'll be weeks before SSI comes through, so no help there in the short term. Is there any kind of cash assistance available from the state? Rent vouchers? You could try calling your local crisis line. They often have referrals for resources you don't even know exist. Good luck!

[Lance_Boyle]

5. Why did the wife not apply for SS/disability years ago?

If a person is disabled, they are entitled to it. They are not required to be disabled X-number of years to apply.

[JoDog]

18. Tell me about it.

I begged her to apply last summer. She claimed that she didn't have all the paperwork she needed. Then suddenly, as the crisis camp closer, she had the documentation. If she would have just taken care of it when I asked, we may not be in this situation. I'm so frustrated at this point.

What's the lesson here, everyone? Listen to JoDog!

[undeterred]

23. A friend of mine had a stroke last year and was hospitalized for a week.

She applied for Disability and was turned down. She is appealing it now. She and her partner are living on one persons part time income.

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. General relief and food stamps for the meantime.

Most folks get turned down the first time applying for SSI.

Binder and Binder...

[JoDog]

19. They have gotten approved for food stamps

Only $140 a month. Things wouldn't be so bad if they both didn't need a lot of medication.

Even in the best of times, IL turned down about 60% of cases at first blush. According to the lawyer my roomies talked to, they are now pretty much turning down everyone out of hand. It's like with an insurance company--they hope people will just give up. They called Rep. Bean's office, and they are looking into what they can do to help.

[KamaAina]

7. Get thee to thy local Center for Independent Living (CIL) at once!

Based on yopur profile: it's this one:

FITE Center for Independent Living (FITE CIL)
1230 Larkin Avenue
Elgin, IL 60123

Marci Savage, Executive Director
Phone: [phone]
TTY Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Website: http://www.fitecil.org
Email: [e-mail]

[JoDog]

20. Thank you

I've forwarded the info.

[old mark]

8. Sadly, you need a lawyer. The SSI people typically turn down the first application, sometimes the

first several. I knew a woman with Lupus who waited 10 years from the time of her first application till she was finally approved...she was living on a friend's sofa. She was eventually accepted and got paid back checks for all the time from her first application.

It is a terrible situation, but this is business as usual for the folks at SSI. Get all the help you possibly can from everywhere, but you really need a lawyer who specializes in disability claims.

Good luck

mark

[WolverineDG]

9. File an appeal, get a lawyer

SSI *ALWAYS* turns down the first application, and keeps turning them down, especially if the person *REALLY* needs it (fuckwads). I think it's even in their policies & procedures to do it. Well, I wouldn't be surprised if it is. (double fuckwads)

dg

[grasswire]

10. have that person contact his U.S. Representative and Senator

A family member of mine was denied SSI even though she had been handicapped since a child. We appealed it after she became an adult. Denied again. We got in touch with her senator. From then out we got kid glove treatment, and the claim was approved within months. We did not use a lawyer.

[JoDog]

21. They are in touch

With Rep. Melissa Bean's office. I don't think they have contacted Sen. Durbin yet. They also intend on calling our rep in Springfield, who attends the same temple as we do.

[dembotoz]

12. appeal

back in the day under ronnie there seemed to be a conspriacy to deny ssi as a cost cutting measure.
deny most
a percentage will give up

I would be ashamed to think it continues.

[WinterParkDonkey]

13. TOMORROW....CALL 9am

call your Congressman or US Senator's office and ask them to intervene on your sister's behalf with the Social Security Administration. My husband went on dialysis and this is what we did. He was able to get disability within six weeks. In the meantime, I would appeal to Catholic Charities, your local housing assistance office, your church, or other non-profits. Good luck.

[one_voice]

14. Appeal...

right away. There are only a few diagnosis that get approved the first time around. SSI/SSD almost always denies the first time around.

Tell your friend to be very specific about her problems. Level of pain, how much help she needs bathing, dressing, etc. How much fatigue (if any is involved) if it's a problem with "visible" symptoms..swelling, bruising, discoloration etc take pictures and use them. List every med and side effects, sometimes just the effects of meds can disable you.

Go see her physician and talk to him/her about applying, her physician can prove to be very helpful.

When she sees the attorney in June, if he/she thinks anything needs to be added to the appeal, he/she can take it from there. But get the appeal in right away.


Good luck to all of you!

[donheld]

15. Yes they must appeal - from what I've learned

nearly everybody is turned down the first time.

[pitohui]

16. well you can't sign a lease when you can only do one more month at the price

"everyone concerned" loses their temper...that's a pretty good clue that you're gonna be living in the homewood suites like it or not as of june 1

it's throwing money in the garbage to sign a lease you can't afford by yourself, you know in your heart these two are completely unreliable for the money, it ain't their fault, but it matters not...you still can't count on them for the money, so you have to be an adult and be practical, save yourself!!!

what are the pets? i have pretty good experience in secret pet adventures and can give you tips on living in hotels/motels/motel6/homewood suites w. pets but...my pets are intelligent and get the idea when they have to be quiet if it's explained to them, they are parrots which are more like children than some types of dogs that just don't "get it"

it can takes months or years for the ssi appeal to go thru in the experience of the folks i know in my state, your friends ain't suddenly getting the $ by june 1 so i would pretty much ignore all the ridiculous posts suggesting that an "appeal" will solve your problem, it won't

[REP]

17. SSI is Supplemental Income; almost no one qualifies. Apply for SSDisability instead.

SSI is hard to qualify for; SSD is for those who are disabled. Try that.

[JoDog]

22. It actually was SSD

I misspoke in the OP. Her own doctor said she was too disabled to work. The doctor the state hired to independently examine her agreed. But the state thinks she could do at-home telemarketing. She has tried that in the past, and could not sit in the correct position for hours on end.