first thing to do is to call your utility company and ask if there is any energy assistance programs. second thing to do is to call the churches in your area not just the big ones. they usually have a lot of good resources.don't know if you have a st. vincent de paul where you are at? they usually help.
in response to nini3...yes I am on medicaid too. I live in tacoma,wa. I have called around for years trying to find mental health. either the doctors have their fill of medicaid recipients, or they just don't take it. After my recent suicide attempt and stomach pumping experience... I was referred to comprehensive mental health as usual. It is a 3 month crisis intervention program which is all I seem to get. they get me steady on a whole lot of pills then cut me off after 3 months. I have been trying to get onto greater lakes mental health(g.l.m.h.) for years.... that's a whole nother story in itself. anyway to make a long story short I decided to do things a little different this time. I have to go to my regular doc. now every month to monitor the acetaminophin level in my body to make sure I didn't destroy my liver. So I asked her to give me a referral to g.l.m.h.. To my astonishment they actually got me in! I went to my first therapy appt. last week and will go weekly as long as they let me.(lord knows I have a lot to get out of me) and a med. eval. in 2 weeks. According to g.l.m.h. the program is only for 6 months due to budget cuts they can't provide ongoing mental health just crisis intervention. My new therapist assures me that I can sign right back into the program after they close the first file. So I guess every 6 months I will have to redo the entire intake process again and they can't guarantee I would have the same therapist... but at least I will have one right?
I don't understand why......
I have SEVERAL mental disabilities that prevent me from living a productive life. on top of the things I was born with (bipolar, o.c.d.,nervous disorder,anger control problem,etc.) that I have to deal with everyday, I have also developed SEVERE p.t.s.d. and anxieties/panic attacks. I have been on my own since 12 yrs old, raped and molested more times than I've ever kissed anyone. got into and off of drugs, worked the streets to survive, and prayed that the next person I met would not beat me and actually love me.I have been on s.s.i. for several years. I am grateful for the monthly check (although it is hard to make it stretch),I am grateful for the medical coverage(even though I have a tooth rotting away in my mouth because it will only pay for root canals on the back teeth and mine's one tooth too close to the front... I paid for the root canal myself... only to find out they don't pay for crowns either! so now my tooth broke off and I can't fathom the idea of missing a front tooth!) but I don't understand why it doesn't cover my mental health? I've been told several times throughout my life that with extensive long term therapy and medication it is highly possible that I could live a relatively productive life. Yet I'm sitting here in and out of emergency rooms and temporary crisis counseling services year after year because I can't find any resources to help me get stable. s.s.i. has noone who can help me find a mental health program. all they do is provide the card... everyone I call doesn't take d.s.h.s. or is only a temporary program.
I just need to find some permanent mental health help!
I am looking for help for the holidays for a couple of people in tacoma, Wa.. for my girlfriend (who literally saved my life by rushing home from another city on the bus just to get me to the e.r. before I died) she is my angel. I am on s.s.i. and have no $ to get her or her mom a christmas present. my g.f.'s b-day is in a week or so and I can't even afford to cook her a nice dinner let alone a present. she keeps telling me she doesn't want anything for her b-day or christmas, that I am her present and she's just glad I made it. I am desperate to get her something special. and her mother is 74 yrs old with no family here except her daughter. she is on a fixed income and lives in an independent living facility by herself. she recently had surgery and has to see several different doctors every week. she has medicare but can't afford her co-pays. she has no $ and her bank is overdrawn because of her co-pays. her daughter is her world and an only child who struggles everyday to try to keep all 3 of us above water as far as bills go. but barely makes it through the month without something going wrong.( her ex of 10 yrs. basically ruined her credit, got everything she could out of her and talked her into moving across country just so she could dump her after she got her to put her through school, buy her a house and everything!)I would like to find someone to help give her and her mom a wonderful christmas and put a smile on their faces. noone is more deserving.
