Homelessness/Section 8 Housing/Government Assistance/RV Contest aka Facebook Drama

[myrdale]

A lady I am extremely loosely associated with (friend of a friend on facebook, with whom I am now FB friends), seems to be caught in a revolving door of bad decisions / luck. First it was medical issues, followed by disability, then divorce, and now homelessness.

Yesterday she was asking people to pray for her that she will win a drawing for an RV (no clue on ticket prices).

I have a general feeling that there is a couple shovel fulls of BS mixed in with about twenty pounds of drama, but my actual friend is convinced she is a really nice lady.

Taking her claims at face value, I'd exchanged a few messages with her about apply for section 8 housing and going back to get part of the assets from the marriage. She claims she is on a waiting list, and there are no assets.

Is there a good path to point her towards? I suspect I'd be better off to just delete / block her, but if her situation is legitimate pointing her in the right direction could improve her situation significantly.

[frugal saver]

I've generally found that there are people that have problems that they are working on fixing, and welcome advice. Then there are people who have problems and welcome sympathy and donations and aren't the least bit interested in helpful advice.

The problem is generally figuring out which are which.

[myrdale]

I've generally found that there are people that have problems that they are working on fixing, and welcome advice. Then there are people who have problems and welcome sympathy and donations and aren't the least bit interested in helpful advice.

The problem is generally figuring out which are which.

I saw a Dave Ramsey clip about a week ago, in which he discussed there are broke people and then there are poor people. Broke is a temporary situation while poor is a state of mind. It parallels your sentiment very closely.

[bjl584]

There are a few degrees of separation between you and her, and you don't even know her personally. All you can do is offer basic anonymous advice.
You'll probably never know the real truth of the situation, but at least you did what you could by trying to pint her in the right direction.

[james.hendrickson]

Why not just get her turned on to Dave Ramsey?

[myrdale]

Why not just get her turned on to Dave Ramsey?

With Dave, he's mostly about getting out of debt. I don't recall hearing any calls with anyone at absolute rock bottom (no income, ability to work, home).

[myrdale]

There are a few degrees of separation between you and her, and you don't even know her personally. All you can do is offer basic anonymous advice.
You'll probably never know the real truth of the situation, but at least you did what you could by trying to pint her in the right direction.

This pretty much sums up my standing in the situation.

[ua_guy]

I have also known people like this. I've learned to keep my distance unless there is something I can meaningfully change, and I am specifically asked for help with a specific problem.

Else you run the risk of getting sucked in, and more often than not, there's waaaaay more to the story that you don't want to have anything to do with.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

send her links to where she should apply too. Sometimes people have no idea where to start.

[myrdale]

send her links to where she should apply too. Sometimes people have no idea where to start.

That is the question. Where should she start?

[bjl584]

That is the question. Where should she start?

Someone I know, who is low income and struggles, went to their local welfare office (I'm not sure of the exact name of the office, but that is essentially what it is)
Anyway, the social worker at the office had contact info and applications for every social program under the sun.
He was able to get welfare, food stamps (SNAP), and assistance with his utility bills all at the same office from the same social worker.
I'm sure that there are other programs available too.

She should start there.

[myrdale]

Someone I know, who is low income and struggles, went to their local welfare office (I'm not sure of the exact name of the office, but that is essentially what it is)
Anyway, the social worker at the office had contact info and applications for every social program under the sun.
He was able to get welfare, food stamps (SNAP), and assistance with his utility bills all at the same office from the same social worker.
I'm sure that there are other programs available too.

She should start there.

Thank you.

[disneysteve]

If she’s on disability and Medicaid and SNAP she must already have a social worker and case worker. They should be able to help her.