I have four children, three of whom have
special needs. My daughter, Takesha, now seven, has spina bifida, which
requires frequent operations and daily catheterization. Takesha is going to
have yet another surgery this summer, a tendon transfer to her foot. My son
Christopher, who is eight, has ADHD and ODD. My son Jon, who is ten, has
depression and PTSD.
I myself suffer from severe depression, as
well as fibromyalgia, which is very painful, and I struggle to keep my
family going. In the past, I have been forced to work in order to keep my
TANF benefits, even though I could not find a daycare that would catheterize
Takesha. As a result of this horrible situation, Takesha went for years not
having her catheterization during the day. Even since Takesha has been in
school, the school nurse sometimes called me to ask me to come in and help.
And on days when the school nurse is out, I had to be available to perform
Takesha's catheterization. I also take Christopher and Jon to counseling
once a week.
When I continued to have difficulty keeping a
job due to my own and my family's health problems, my ASPIRE caseworker
referred me to a program specifically for families who have a hard time
working. Eventually, I found an advocate to help me apply for S.S.I.
I continue to struggle to get my children to
all the services they need and take care of my own health, especially since
my old car is pretty unreliable - I just had to pay $800 to replace my
transmission and it's not working well again. Without our car, we have
serious problems because we live in a very rural area. It looks like my SSI
application will finally be approved and my own disabilities will be
recognized so that I can devote my time to caring for my children. But for
the last several years, my family has struggled to meet unrealistic work
requirements simply to keep our TANF and maintain a roof over our heads.
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