Okay, so try to ignore the "drama" in this and I'll try to keep this short.
- I'm unemployed (on my 3rd disability appeal) but in college
- I max out my loans but it's about $500 a month left after my grants/loans cover tuition if I dolled out the lump sum I get three times a year into equal payments once a month
- This is ALL of my income, however, since I don't have kids (no cash assistance) and because most states, mine included require you to work 20 hours minimum if you're in college in order to qualify for food stamps or Medicaid
- So no job, no food, no insurance
That's all bad enough; I have zero support outside of my fiancee who has no family either. He is also in school and having a hard time securing employment since we had to move.
Last October all of my identification was burned in a fire that destroyed everything we owned, including all our clothes, cell phones (needed for employment) and the laptop we shared for school in addition to MANY other items.
- The Red Cross was unwilling to help us since we weren't on the lease
- landlord allowed us to stay pending a move to our own unit
- This adds to the complications we already have regarding a lease, and also makes it impossible to find employment
- My social security card and birth certificate need my photo ID in order to be replaced, plus an expensive trip to my hometown to get my birth certificate since they no longer issue copies requested by any medium except in person
- I have to actually hope a bus or train, ride a whole day and somehow find the money to but the certificate, even if I had my photo ID
- I do have a driver's license in the system just not the physical copy. In order to get a new one, I need to provide a copy of my lease (that I don't have) and two utility bills (that I also don't have) in addition to my social card and birth certificate (which again, I don't have) to the DMV and they will get a new license to me
- I don't even live near the original issuing state anymore but numerous phones calls haven't yielded many answers anyway. They just say to come back to the state, obtain residency for a year and then submit the lease etc. It's actually a lot more involved than just applying for a transfer license
I know I need to fix this mess, but now I don't even know where to start.
I guess the question I am asking; Any ideas of how to move beyond our toxic living environment (where we have until July to vacate anyway). Is there any specific sequence that would yield quicker results. For example; is there an easier way to get all the ID's
Thank you for reading, and for any helpful replies.