On HASA and You're a Student?

Here’s something that your HRA Caseworker probably has not shared with you.   

Did you know that HRA (aka Dept of Social Services) will reimburse your public transportation costs for each day that you are in attendance?  They may even prorate the amount.  

Go to your assigned HRA office and ask for form W-700D it’s a 2 page form (front and back or copied on separate pages)  Get your attendance records for the semester, and past semesters.  Make blank copies of the W-700D (you will need to fill this out and submit at the end of every semester (you can also do it once per month) and submitted to your HASA Caseworker or Financial Worker (best to submit it to your Caseworker), and make sure copies are made and that your sign and you are given your proof of services received every time you visit HRA.  

It could take a month or two but the money will be available through your EBT (SNAP) card.

Be sure to ask your Caseworker if there are any other allowances for students whether it’s an accredited college, technical training, or trades trades training institution you are entitled to these benefits.  

You don’t have to be on Public Assistance forever… The fact that you are in school shows that you looking to make a change and you deserve all the assistance you can get!

Get it!

Have a HAART... (part II)

A lot happened over the weekend….

I started HIV-treatment… just 3 pills a day… I’m feeling just fine… no side effects

I also, went on a date… first date in a very very very long time.  Had a wonderful time… we did kiss… first kiss in over 2 years for me… He says that he would like to see me again… He is HIV negative; that kicked up a few things with me.  This would be first for me as well; I have only ever dated someone that is pozitve since my diagnosis 10 years ago.

Let’s see… what else… I started taking lessons in sign language… 1-on-1 for an hour on Sundays.  

I am still transitioning off of public assistance.  Starting next month, I will be paying about 90% of my rent… I can still receive Food Stamps for about a year and keep Medicaid because my employer doesn’t offer health insurance at this time.

In just 2 months, I will be 40 years old.  I am still working on my 40lbs by 40yo Challenge.  I need to lose 13 more pounds.  However, I am not sure how much fat I have actually lost.  I know that I have gained muscle and my waist size is getting smaller. So, there is a chance that I might hover around my current weight of 171lbs  if I continue to gain muscle mass and shed some fat.  Anyway, I feel great.

___________

Just wanted to give a quick update on what’s happening with me.

Broke but not Dead

So, I checked my bank account online today.  OVERDRAWN!!!  By quite a bit, I might add.  Things are gonna be rough this summer because of it.

I am on a fixed income.  The public assistance I receive I can barley survive on.  Now that I have this overdrawn account I need to reconcile, I am always gonna be behind on something - never catching up.  I’m lost right now; I don’t know what to do. 

I want to start looking for work - Sure, that’s a great plan but what do I do when my mobile phone service is suspended?  OK, I just projected but I can’t help but think about that.  I also use my phone to get online via tether.  What to do, what to do? 

I still need an AC, I need to pay my electric bill, I need money for transportation, toiletries, etc etc. 

I may be broke, but I am not dead!  There is a solution somewhere. 

There was a time in my life that I would say to myself, “Fuck it, I am broke anyway, why not just spend what little I have left on crystal”.  That is not an option and it certainly is not a solution.

Social Security and HASA

Tomorrow I have an appt with Social Security.  I have to apply for SSI/SSD.  Insane, I have been applying and appealing for 3 and-a-half years.  HASA, a division of NYC - HRA requires that all clients, not currently receiving social security benefits, apply for benefits and appeal all negative decisions, forever! 

In order to continue receiving benefits from the city (local government) I must apply for federal benefits.  Why is this a requirement?  I may never become eligible for SSI/SSD until I am in my retirement years.  

Medically, I meet the requirements to receive benefits through HASA.  I feel it’s unconstitutional to force me to apply for a federal program that I do not qualify for in order to keep receiving the benefits that I have been getting for over three years. 

I am not looking to remain on HASA for the rest of my life.  I am employable and I hope find gainful employment someday.  Getting approved for SSI/SSD won’t make life better for me; the local government wants the feds to take me as their ward.  It’s all about money, not about the welfare of the client (me).

Her is what I found from agency providing legal service to HASA clients. (source: South Brooklyn Legal Services)

3.                  HASA clients are required to apply for SSI (and SSD) and to complete the administrative process.  This means that they are required to appeal any denials until they have had a hearing.  Therefore, as an advocate, you cannot tell a client not to pursue his/her claim for SSI.  However, it is very important to advise HASA clients if they will not financially benefit from receipt of SSI so that clients do not have the expectation of increased benefits or experience undo stress worrying about their SSI claims.

4.                  Who Benefits from Receipt of SSI?  There are still limited situations in which a HASA client might benefit financially from receiving SSI.  The two most common examples are if:

a.       the rental amount for the household is very low; or

b.      client is in scatter site housing or other subsidized housing in which client’s rental amount is a percentage of his/her income.

Please note, a & b:  Neither apply to me.

SMH

I am not a Con(Ed)

I’m at the NYC-HRA HASA office submitting my electric bill.

I don’t feel that I should be responsible for the first month-and-a-half of service. My case worker demanded that I start an account prior to inspecting the APT (the APT must inspected and the lease approved in order to move in). Having the utilities on is not a requirement for inspection!

Final approval took over a month and I moved in a week after. I ended up with a bill from ConEd for services I didn’t use.

Anyway, HRA will pay the bill but I have to pay it all back. SMH!