Dear Mr. President;
Do you know what it's like to suffer? To really suffer?
I ask because your face looks exactly the same now as it did when you took office. No visible change. That makes me wonder if you are truly in touch with people like me.
=============
I write this letter from my unheated apartment, 1125 Brighton Avenue Apt 404, Portland, ME.
Six inches of snow is going to fall tonight in Cumberland County, the first snow of the season in Maine. I expect to be able to see my breath in a few hours. I live in subsidized housing and heat is supposedly included in rent. I truly don't know why the landlord has turned off the heat. I am a month behind in my rent payments because money is tight right now. When I go out, I am afraid my locks will be changed by the landlord.
I receive SSDI benefits from the government. It comes to about $1,200/mo. Medicare is deducted, so I have health insurance. My rent is $374/mo. Every day for as long as I can remember, I pay my bills on the day the government disability check is direct deposited into my checking account. I have three credit cards, all maxed, with minimums totaling about $120. A cell phone, $60/mo. Cable and internet for about $160.
My car is paid for, thankfully, but I have an EZ Pass account with New York (typically $25/mo). Insurance is $70. I'm never late with that because I'm certain my policy would be cancelled if I was.
My father died eight years ago and left me $72,000 from his life insurance policy. Since I am on disability, in order to keep the money I had to set up a special needs trust fund, through a lawyer, to shield the money. My now 73 year old mother has signature control of the account. When I need money I ask her to move the money to cash, and she writes me a check, which I deposit into my checking account. Usually that works fine, but this month I have incurred about $400 in overdraft fees ($35 per transaction) from my bank due to charges made to my account, almost all of them automatic debits to the account for things like my gym and EZ Pass. I am now $383 overdrawn, so the $500 check my Mom wrote me Thursday from my trust fund I didn't dare deposit into my checking. I used a Cash Center type thing. They took out $50 from the $500, leaving me with $450 to use until Friday, when my $1,200 SSDI check is deposited into my checking. After the bank takes out their $400 in overdraft fees, I'll have $800 left for the month from the disability money. Since my rent is behind, I'll have to give management at least half of the $800, leaving me with $400 of the SSDI money to buy food and pay other bills.
I've been on and off and on again with SSDI for about 20 years.. My psychiatrist has diagnosed me with schizoaffective disorder, which is a combination of depression and schizophrenic symptoms. I've always been a depressive, and started to have problems with auditory hallucinations in my mid 20s. I am a college graduate with a MEd, but working any job has always been extremely difficult. I am bright and hardworking, but can't seem to concentrate on one thing for a long enough time to meet the needs of any employer. My proudest accomplishment is graduating from Miami University in the spring of 1988, but I've really done nothing much since then. Not for lack of trying, but nothing seems to work out.
I am a recovering alcoholic. I've not had a drink in about two and a half years. Alcoholism is rife in my late father's family. His parents were Boston street drunks who gave up my father when he was a toddler to be raised by a relative. I manage my disease the best I can, and am proud to be sober today.
I was so depressed last night and had gone without more than an hour of sleep for a couple of days that I went to the local ER in hopes of being admitted to the hospital's psych unit. They held me for about six hours and then told me that there were no beds available, that I had to leave the hospital. I was so tired when I drove in at 4pm that I couldn't remember which floor of the parking garage I parked on. Upon my release I spend an hour or so wandering the garage looking for my 06 Corolla. Couldn't find it. I think it may have been stolen. Because my registration and plates expired a month or so ago, I don't think I can report the car to the police, as if they find it they probably won't give it back to me without an up to date sticker and registration. I spent last night, from the time I got home via taxi at 1am, wondering what options I have. I haven't come up with any good ones.
Life is really hard for me right now, but I have not quite given up hope. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Joe Sweeney
Portland, ME
I ask because your face looks exactly the same now as it did when you took office. No visible change. That makes me wonder if you are truly in touch with people like me.
=============
I write this letter from my unheated apartment, 1125 Brighton Avenue Apt 404, Portland, ME.
Six inches of snow is going to fall tonight in Cumberland County, the first snow of the season in Maine. I expect to be able to see my breath in a few hours. I live in subsidized housing and heat is supposedly included in rent. I truly don't know why the landlord has turned off the heat. I am a month behind in my rent payments because money is tight right now. When I go out, I am afraid my locks will be changed by the landlord.
I receive SSDI benefits from the government. It comes to about $1,200/mo. Medicare is deducted, so I have health insurance. My rent is $374/mo. Every day for as long as I can remember, I pay my bills on the day the government disability check is direct deposited into my checking account. I have three credit cards, all maxed, with minimums totaling about $120. A cell phone, $60/mo. Cable and internet for about $160.
My car is paid for, thankfully, but I have an EZ Pass account with New York (typically $25/mo). Insurance is $70. I'm never late with that because I'm certain my policy would be cancelled if I was.
My father died eight years ago and left me $72,000 from his life insurance policy. Since I am on disability, in order to keep the money I had to set up a special needs trust fund, through a lawyer, to shield the money. My now 73 year old mother has signature control of the account. When I need money I ask her to move the money to cash, and she writes me a check, which I deposit into my checking account. Usually that works fine, but this month I have incurred about $400 in overdraft fees ($35 per transaction) from my bank due to charges made to my account, almost all of them automatic debits to the account for things like my gym and EZ Pass. I am now $383 overdrawn, so the $500 check my Mom wrote me Thursday from my trust fund I didn't dare deposit into my checking. I used a Cash Center type thing. They took out $50 from the $500, leaving me with $450 to use until Friday, when my $1,200 SSDI check is deposited into my checking. After the bank takes out their $400 in overdraft fees, I'll have $800 left for the month from the disability money. Since my rent is behind, I'll have to give management at least half of the $800, leaving me with $400 of the SSDI money to buy food and pay other bills.
I've been on and off and on again with SSDI for about 20 years.. My psychiatrist has diagnosed me with schizoaffective disorder, which is a combination of depression and schizophrenic symptoms. I've always been a depressive, and started to have problems with auditory hallucinations in my mid 20s. I am a college graduate with a MEd, but working any job has always been extremely difficult. I am bright and hardworking, but can't seem to concentrate on one thing for a long enough time to meet the needs of any employer. My proudest accomplishment is graduating from Miami University in the spring of 1988, but I've really done nothing much since then. Not for lack of trying, but nothing seems to work out.
I am a recovering alcoholic. I've not had a drink in about two and a half years. Alcoholism is rife in my late father's family. His parents were Boston street drunks who gave up my father when he was a toddler to be raised by a relative. I manage my disease the best I can, and am proud to be sober today.
I was so depressed last night and had gone without more than an hour of sleep for a couple of days that I went to the local ER in hopes of being admitted to the hospital's psych unit. They held me for about six hours and then told me that there were no beds available, that I had to leave the hospital. I was so tired when I drove in at 4pm that I couldn't remember which floor of the parking garage I parked on. Upon my release I spend an hour or so wandering the garage looking for my 06 Corolla. Couldn't find it. I think it may have been stolen. Because my registration and plates expired a month or so ago, I don't think I can report the car to the police, as if they find it they probably won't give it back to me without an up to date sticker and registration. I spent last night, from the time I got home via taxi at 1am, wondering what options I have. I haven't come up with any good ones.
Life is really hard for me right now, but I have not quite given up hope. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Joe Sweeney
Portland, ME
posted by joe sweeney at 11:46 AM
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