Government Aid (Food Stamps and WIC)

amother

Fri, Jan 18 2008, 3:21 pm

:wink: :cry: :wink: :cry:
so lets not kid ourselves- how many ppl rent apartments worth 3 or even 4 thousand dollars a month- and half is covered by section aid- they have theyre husband sleep in shuls to appear homeless and then they live like kings.... THATS the part that bothers me, my hard earned tax money going to that - not to the couples that are really struggling. Its the couples that pay in food stamps, but wear company name clothes, and the couples that have medicaid- but beautiful houses on someone eles name- U KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!! Again- there are so many that need financial aid- and for those- by all means- do what you gotta do... but so many who need it are being rejected or on long waiting lists because of other fakers that are taking advantage of the sytem. Nobody wants to talk about it- but it exists- there are so many gedolim and honest people accepting government help, and thats good- thats what its there for.... but too many are just fooling themselves and others. WRONG.

Hashem_Yaazor

Sat, Jan 19 2008, 7:20 pm

I didn't read this thread, just the OP, but I wanted to add that in my state, WIC eligibility is tougher than eligibility for Medical Assistance for children under 19 or pregnant women. However, if one qualifies for Medical Assistance, you automatically qualify for WIC.

Medical assistance does not look at assets, only at income, so for many Jews, this is very helpful and very legal and yashar.

Hope that sheds some benefit of the doubt to ehriliche yidden I know.

Oh, one more thing. The medical assistance I am speaking about also factors an unborn child into family size. So a newlywed couple who is pregnant has to meet the income criteria for a family of 3 which is considerably higher than for a family of 2 (single mom I guess).

amother

Sat, Jan 19 2008, 7:56 pm

Married, with 2nd child on the way, IYH.

Rent: $1270 for small 2-bdrm.
My p/t job pays babysitter and a cleaninglady for 3 hours a week
DH works 6 days a week. 50+ hours
DH's salary is $40,000

We have no parents in town to eat by - in fact we host family for shabbos meals.
Parents don't even have any means to help us.
We're on our own!

According to what we've been told by many resources, we would need to make atleast $60,000 in order to barely make it.

By some miracle, we still have our apt.

We are not eligible for ANY BENEFITS except WIC, which we can't even use here in CH.

The 2 stores that accept WIC only do it for their customers, and will only give you what they want. So I need to find a car once a month to stock up in BP. Lately, I've missed out a few times, bec. I couldn't get a car.

amother

Sat, Jan 19 2008, 8:22 pm

depends your situation.
Dif. people can handle dif. things.
I'd rather be like this than to be stuck in hospital/bed for the rest of my life.
I was working full time up until DS was born. Without a cleaning lady.
Things change, people change, and unfortunately I can't handle as much now as I was able to then.

TwinsMommy

Sat, Jan 19 2008, 10:26 pm

I thought WIC was really hard to get?

Our income is decent but we are $200,000 in debt from 9 years of living in a city we couldn't afford and now we're literally paying for it..... our preemie babies needed special formula at $90 a week. THAT's what made me call WIC.

One 5 minute phone conversation and I learned that $90 a week on formula doesn't even qualify you for WIC if you make too much money. Baruch HaShem at 6 months old our babies were put on regular formula and now at a year old they're on whole milk--- but those months of grocery bills that were $90 MORE than average were killers.

When you're paying $4000 a month to student loans and credit cards, and you also have to pay rent and utilities, how do you NOT put your groceries on credit cards?

So we've never been able to get help---- I've never applied for or even understand the other stuff--- section 8 or food stamps or whatever, but I know WIC turned us down and I honestly feel like people with a lower income but no debt are in a much better situation than we are.

We'll literally be "paying" for our honesty for years and years.

And nope, we don't have more than $2000 in assets, but more than $200,000 in debt. Why save money when you're behind on student loans and credit cards?

amother

Mon, Jan 21 2008, 4:45 pm

IMHO (as someone presently getting free medical coverage from the state), if you are honest and upfront, take what you're entitled to. However, if you have to lie, there's something wrong. I hear of people doing it all the time- I just don't understand. Yeah, you struggle, but does that give you a heter to lie?

creativemommyto3

Mon, Jan 21 2008, 5:25 pm

shoy18 wrote:

amother wrote:

I live in NY and just signed up recently for WIC. They don't ask for how much you have in the bank, just how much you make.
My husband learns in Kollel and I work. Last month due to yomim tovim, a few days off, etc, I made less money than usual so I qualified. I also applied for Family Health Plus -- which is like Medicaid, but you can make more money and have more money in assets -- up to $2,500 a month in pay, up to $18,000 in assets for a family of 4! And I'm glad they have this option, otherwise, a large chunk of my paycheck would go to health insurance...it wouldn't even pay to work so much! You know what I mean?

I was completely honest on the applications and said this is what I made for last month. They only ask to see 1 month's pay stubs.
As long as you're being honest, I see no problem is asking for help if you need it. We all pay the taxes, as well.

sorry hun, but thats not honest to pick the month you make the least amount of money and then sign up, did you not re-read what you wrote?????

This is what it takes. We were 100 dollars over the limit and we got turned down. The gov't is quite strict. She was just playing their game.

creativemommyto3

Mon, Jan 21 2008, 5:32 pm

shoy18 wrote:

amother wrote:

sorry hun, but thats not honest to pick the month you make the least amount of money and then sign up, did you not re-read what you wrote?????