The chief complaint for those who have applied for Social Security disability benefits, aside from the high denial rate, is the long wait times to receive decisions from the Social Security Administration. Claimants who have gone through this process realize that financial distress is not far away when you have to wait months or even well over a year before any Social Security disability benefits are available. So, what do you do when you don’t know where to turn to get help paying your rent or help with buying medications prescribed to you?
Unfortunately there is not a great answer for that. The first step should be to contact your local county social services program. Through state initiatives, there may be programs available to help with renter assistance, health care, food stamps and in some instances, cash assistance. Another valuable resource people should checkout is this government site that helps guide low income individuals and families in the right direction. This site has links to assist people who need help paying for medications, food, heating or electric bills, phone bills and even a site that directs you to locations where you may find unclaimed money that the government owes you from past tax returns, old retirement or bank accounts and other sources.
In addition to the links, there is also valuable information available that will basically give people instruction on how to get help paying for prescriptions, food, energy, phone, the internet or even a computer. It is easy to fall into despair and that the walls are closing in on you when you are unable to work because of a disability. The financial impact of it alone is overwhelming, but there is help out there for many people in all sorts of circumstances.
