Coping with Helping [View all]

How’s that for a topic?

Many of the working poor rely, out of necessity, on one or more agencies for assistance. And all too often those agencies seem to be staffed by people whose life experience has not yet gifted them with understanding beyond the technical training for their jobs. For instance: If you are disabled but can perform a certain kind of work it is assumed that the job will magically appear, that you will be able to get there, that you will be able to put in whatever hours are required.

If you are able to work, differing agencies have different parameters for earnings. Your income limit will be one figure at Social Security, another figure at Housing Authority, yet another figure at the office that determines your eligibility for SNAP benefits. And if you have a month wherein your health allows you to reach any of those limits, it’s assumed that you will do so for every month and you find yourself at risk of losing benefits that cannot be replaced by inconsistent and unreliable income.

When I was still able to work a halfway regular schedule I was required to submit work reports every month. Social Security just filed them; at social services, during my recertification, I asked if their income limits were the same as Social Security’s and was told that I’d know I’d gone over the limit when my benefits got cancelled. Some friends wanted to take me to a casino for my birthday, and I had to explain that I couldn’t risk it because winning even a small amount could cause me to lose benefits.

So, I’ve learned to smile sweetly and deliver whatever documentation they want when they want it. In the land of the free, the working poor aren't quite as free as those who live above that line. Our food, housing, and medical care are subject to the approval of faceless people who likely have no idea what it’s like to be on this side of their desks. There’s something to be said for “been there, done that”; it creates a fellowship of understanding that is beyond price. Forums like this one can help us to hold on to a measure of dignity that is too often denied us elsewhere.