State and Federal Assistance - My Thoughts on How it Works

We've all been there; you lost your job due to company downsizing, quit because of ethical reasons, or were fired. Now the problem is, you need money. But what if you haven't been able to find another job yet? Or what if you have applied and interviewed for a dozen places and haven't been hired? That's something everyone has been through at least once in their lives, especially now due to the economy, what with jobs being sent overseas and such. But what about federal or sate assistance? Well, in Pennsylvania, you have to be pregnant, on health sustaining medications, missing a limb, or elderly to get much. Or, be a baby factory, or a minority.

Now, don't get me wrong, I have no problem with people of low income being able to get assistance to live, or people who actually need it. But what about the people who don't? Pennsylvania supposedly has laws where you can't be on welfare for more than three years, no matter what. But when someone goes to apply for food stamps to help feed their family and you see people in interviews that are dressed to the nines, you think that they can't obviously need that much help. And I have seen people that have been on welfare for years, simply because they can pop babies out faster than Superman can fly. Somewhere along the lines, people have learned how to play the system.

Now here's where my issue comes in. I have a friend that could use some assistance. She has a knee problem that limits her ability to walk and stand for extended periods of time. But she deals with it because she has no choice. She has applied for every kind of monetary assistance imaginable; social security, medical and cash assistance through public welfare, and her efforts have been fruitless. She gets no help because she's not pregnant or permanently disabled. Why? Why is it that a person can pay into social security, and the Department of Public Welfare through taxes taken out of their paychecks, but not be able to benefit from it when you need to?

Here's my story: I was able to get full welfare benefits in February of 2005, simply because I had a necessary surgery to my shoulder. I couldn't work for 6 months because that was what the doctor ordered. After finally being able to work, I notified welfare and was taken off cash assistance but maintained medical benefits to continue paying for physical therapy. I also was able to keep food stamps because I had an extremely low income job. It was all I could do until my doctor removed light duty orders. As soon as that happened, you better believe I jumped at the opportunity to apply at Cummins Diesel Engine Plant in Jamestown, NY.

Now, I moved away from that area after the plant started laying off the temporary employees, which I was. Since moving I have lost my birth and s.s. card, making it impossible to work. So here I am, stuck in a catch 22: can't work with out identification cards. Can't get a job without those sheets of paper saying I really am who I say I am. Can't get a job without a car either. Can't fix my car, or get a new one, or get identification records without a job. So I go to apply for assistance to get those things and guess what? The welfare office tells me they can't get me a birth certificate because they don't need it for me. Why? Because I'm 25 years old. They can fix my car, but I have to get it here. If I had the money to do that, I wouldn't need help getting it fixed.

Getting back to the main issue, everyone should be entitled to getting what they need, and not having that entitlement based on their ethnic origin, the amount of kids they have or anything like that. If you pay taxes, you should get it, regardless of anything else. But for those people that are on assistance for any other reason, i.e. you simply don't want to work, get off it and give someone else a chance to get assistance. I know of people that are even on social security for other than viable reasons, i.e. ADD or ADHD. My boyfriend has ADD, and he's had a job for two years. Get off social security and let someone who honestly can't meet requirement to hold a job have the benefits.

I don't mean to sound harsh or prejudice against people getting assistance. I just don't agree with the means some of them come by to get the assistance and I believe that everyone should be allowed state and/or federal help if they need it.