'Elizabeth'was awarded SSI following her hearing at the Social Security Administration andshould start receiving her SSI in the next 90 days. This will includeback pay from when she first applied in November of 2005. That's right;it took her almost three years to qualify again for SSI.
She states that she plans on celebrating by going to the nearest HometownBuffet and treating herself to their all you can eat buffet. She is alsolooking forward to putting down a pet deposit and getting a cat.
Speaking of pets, today she went to volunteering at a local PetSmart. There she can satisfy her love of animals by taking care of some cats anddogs. She is also interested in a program that will have someone help herget out of the house more, by taking her to a coffee shop, a bowling alley andthe movies, among other activities. The hope is that this program,combined with the other good news, is finally setting into place some muchneeded support systems, beyond those she already has used.
'Leonard' also got some good news recently. He was allowed to get another housing voucher from the same program he got the housing voucher from before his latest eviction. His mental health provider team has already found him a new place, which they feel will give him the support he needs. In addition, a member from the team will visit the client once a day to check on him. 'Leonard' is very excited about this second opportunity and has even agreed to take medication that should alleviate some of the mental illness symptoms which may have led to his self medication through alcohol and other drug use, in the past.
'Suzie' also got some good news, although she reacted to a little differently than the others. She too, was allowed to have another chance at housing through a local program who has provided her with three other housing vouchers in the past. Despite not staying in any of the apartments for at least a year, for all three housing vouchers, she was given the opportunity for a fourth voucher. This one came with strings attached though, that were meant to address the problems she has had in the past in keeping an apartment. She agreed to some of the stipulations, but admantly refused to have a payee for her SSI checks. The purpose of which would be to ensure she pays her rent each month. 'Suzie' turned down the housing voucher because of this one stipulation and thus is looking for an apartment on her that she can afford with the $600 or so a month she gets in SSI. All those working with 'Suzie' hope that she changes her mind and gets a payee, but maybe her determination to make it work without a payee will be a key to her success. Time will only tell.
