Wednesday, June 11, 2008

The elusive safety net

Most of the people I know with CFIDS/ME, fibromyalgia, environmental injuries, or other invisible illnesses have some kind of support system. They might be suffering terribly, but they at least have enough of a safety net that they won't soon be homeless on top of everything else.

Well, today I found out that someone I've been corresponding with via e-mail is going to be out on the street soon. His family doesn't take his illness seriously, and they're not going to help him. The people who might be inclined to help him are as broke and sick as he is.

I don't know this guy well. Maybe his family is just particularly dysfunctional. But I suspect they wouldn't be treating him as badly if he had cancer, or AIDS, or multiple sclerosis. It's stories like these that made me want to write "Everybody Knows About Me." If the song can change one person's mind, it will have done a lot of good.

Still, my efforts feel horribly inadequate today. No song is going to ensure that somebody gets food and shelter.

Does anybody know of emergency resources for someone in a situation like this? I don't think a person with CFIDS/ME would do very well in a homeless shelter.

4 comments:

Jannie Funster said...

That's a real bummer about your friend.

I've got to get to a computer whose speakers aren't blown to have the pleasure of listening to your songs.

--Jannie

MJ said...

Try community services dept with the city of tucson
Try Dept of economic security
Try Raul Grijalva's office
Try local churches

cinderkeys said...

Should've mentioned that he's not local to Tucson.

Local churches, now that's a thought ...

DeppityBob said...

Maybe his local Housing Authority as well? Usually it's county-administered. Also check with the local YMCA and see what connections they have. Perhaps he can spend some time in a volunteer hospice while waiting for public aid to kick in? Speaking of which, if he isn't on disability, he should be. There are probably clinics that will confirm his disorder for little or no charge, and he can take that to Social Security. It's really awful to want to be useful, to want to contribute, but simply be exhausted and ache everywhere all the time.