Another UPdate on The Grimmy

[Whyaylooh]

Hey, getting called in for the second round of interviews means you got close, right? You're just walking your fire, that's all.   In the meantime, how are things holding up with the essentials (i.e. food)?

Definitely keep hanging in there.  I'm hoping that things get better for you soon!

[DrakeGrimm]

I've got the EBT card for basic food stuffs. I can't cook anything(see also: hobo) but I can get some cheap(er) pre-packaged, pre-cooked stuff. Just nothing hot. It's sustenance, at least, right?

[JaguarX]

I've got the EBT card for basic food stuffs. I can't cook anything(see also: hobo) but I can get some cheap(er) pre-packaged, pre-cooked stuff. Just nothing hot. It's sustenance, at least, right?

keep at it, you'll make it.

Wish I could use your story to show that not everyone on food stamp is lazy, don't want to work, big Escalade SUV driving taking advantage of the system types that are actually the minority.

Sometimes crap happens in life and people just need some help to make it through, like most people with food stamps.

[DrakeGrimm]

keep at it, you'll make it.

Wish I could use your story to show that not everyone on food stamp is lazy, don't want to work, big Escalade SUV driving taking advantage of the system types that are actually the minority.

Sometimes crap happens in life and people just need some help to make it through, like most people with food stamps.

Where is the G.D. Like button already?






So, last night pretty much sucked.

Warning: HOBO DRAMAZ AHEAD

There's been this group of other street folk, not unlike yours truly, that have been sleeping near the spot I've had scoped out since April. They moved in July/August. They're everything I'm not, street-ly speaking. They're loud, rude, they drink, they smoke, and they leave garbage everywhere.

How does this impact quiet, polite, cleans-up-after-himself Hobo Grimmy? Well, some of the residents in the area have taken a strong dislike to these folk(with good reason) and have taken to screaming at them at all hours should they happen upon them camping out somewhere. Including threats of law enforcement. Which means our dear Grimm gets to pack up all his crap and high tail it in the general direction of Away every time it happens. Like last night.

Without an auxillary place to sleep, I'm afraid I only got a brief 1.5-2 hour nap in before the screaming started and threats got issued. So I'm rather over-tired and stressed out, today. Ah well.

Just needed to vent about that, thanks again for all the support and well-wishes. It's really appreciated.

[TonyV]

Where are you, still in Portland?  Do they have a shelter where you can stay at night to avoid the yelling and screaming?  Didn't you mention that you have a girlfriend there?  Is crashing on her couch a possibility until you get back on your feet?

[JanessaVR]

I've been sending you $20 a paycheck for a while now.  Let it not be said we don't try to look after our own...

[DrakeGrimm]

Where are you, still in Portland?  Do they have a shelter where you can stay at night to avoid the yelling and screaming?  Didn't you mention that you have a girlfriend there?  Is crashing on her couch a possibility until you get back on your feet?

I am still in Portland, yes. Ren lives with her dad, who lets me stay over sometimes, but I can't stay there -all- the time. A few days a week at most. Most of the shelters around here are either full up, or unsafe for someone with electronics. I cannot store my laptop elsewhere, and need it with me anyway so I can look for work/apply for school/etc. Other friends in the area simply don't have the space to let me couch surf until I get back on my feet(Ren's mother lives with her boyfriend and Ren's sister in a basement apartment, which is pretty cramped, for example).

Janessa, I cannot thank you enough for how much you and others have helped. In addition to the little bit of money going a long way for someone in my position, the emotional uplifting such concern and care brings is almost more valuable. Thank you, again, and thanks to this community as a whole for still being one of the best online communities in existence.

[DrakeGrimm]

I've completed my FAFSA and am filling out paperwork to attend Portland Community College on a general academics 2-year, with the intent to transfer into a 4-year program after. I don't know if I'll be able to get enough grants/loans to get a place to live during this time, but here's hoping.

DHS wants me to prove I'm still broke and unemployed, so I have to fill out a form and go to their offices at some point. Not sure I can afford my bus fare there and back, but I'll figure something out. *sighs* And of course, there are certain people in D.C.(I am not naming names/affiliations, this will not become a political discussion) who are trying to kill or reduce SNAP. As an "Able Bodied Adult Without Dependents," I am one of the people who would be cut from the program under the current round of proposed revisions.

All in all, Grimmy's in kind of a bad mood today. Thank you all for your continued support. It helps more than I can ever adequately express.

[Kaos Arcanna]

I've completed my FAFSA and am filling out paperwork to attend Portland Community College on a general academics 2-year, with the intent to transfer into a 4-year program after. I don't know if I'll be able to get enough grants/loans to get a place to live during this time, but here's hoping.

DHS wants me to prove I'm still broke and unemployed, so I have to fill out a form and go to their offices at some point. Not sure I can afford my bus fare there and back, but I'll figure something out. *sighs* And of course, there are certain people in D.C.(I am not naming names/affiliations, this will not become a political discussion) who are trying to kill or reduce SNAP. As an "Able Bodied Adult Without Dependents," I am one of the people who would be cut from the program under the current round of proposed revisions.

All in all, Grimmy's in kind of a bad mood today. Thank you all for your continued support. It helps more than I can ever adequately express.

Hey, Grimmy. Just wanted to drop a line out and see if we can find out how you're doing.

[Segev]

And of course, there are certain people in D.C.(I am not naming names/affiliations, this will not become a political discussion) who are trying to kill or reduce SNAP. As an "Able Bodied Adult Without Dependents," I am one of the people who would be cut from the program under the current round of proposed revisions.

I'll order these in reverse order of importance, as I hope the last bit will be more stand-out than the first:

1) Speaking as somebody who would like to reduce various welfare programs' budgets, there is something grotesquely wrong when we DO have people on government assistance who drive SUVs and live large on it while people who genuinely need the help are barely scraping by. There is tremendous waste in these programs, and frankly, I'd like to see them de-centralized so that the Fed. isn't administering it by long-distance criteria and instead the money and therefore the decision-making happens at a state or even municipal level.

2) In a more directly helpful suggestion, Grimmy, I strongly encourage you to seek out your local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Not for the religious aspect, but because of the Bishop's Storehouse. That's only the tip of the iceberg of assistance programs that this privately-funded charity has for an able-bodied young man down on his luck and having trouble finding work. I don't know the full gamut of services, but help finding work is also very prevalent, and I can guarantee you that if you needed a ride somewhere and couldn't afford a bus ticket, you could probably get a volunteer from the church membership to give you a ride. Mormons are extremely community-oriented as a rule, and take the ancient ideals of Christianity where it comes to "love thy neighbor as thyself." And there are enough of them around in any given urban area in the US that you won't be leaning so hard on any one person as to cause them hardship.

So please, I encourage you to look up where the nearest ward is, and contact information for the Bishop thereof. Explain your situation and ask where you can go for help, and maybe to seek assistance in getting back on your feet. That you're pursuing education will be taken into account, as well; they might have suggestions to help you get there, too.

[srmalloy]

1) Speaking as somebody who would like to reduce various welfare programs' budgets, there is something grotesquely wrong when we DO have people on government assistance who drive SUVs and live large on it while people who genuinely need the help are barely scraping by. There is tremendous waste in these programs, and frankly, I'd like to see them de-centralized so that the Fed. isn't administering it by long-distance criteria and instead the money and therefore the decision-making happens at a state or even municipal level.

And, on the other end of the problem, you have Tea Party candidates running on a platform of dismantling government assistance programs... while signing their entire family up for Medicaid. There is hypocrisy, fraud, and waste on all sides.

[Segev]

I won't condone the activity, though I will point out that it ironically illustrates exactly just how abusable the systems are. "Dismantling" them - in the sense of turning them over to localities to manage and getting the Fed. out of them - is a way to help cut that waste, fraud, etc. out.

It certainly doesn't do anything but reinforce my point to which you responded: the system is seriously flawed and the solution lies somewhere in cutting back on to whom it's given through more local responsibility.

[Ironwolf]

Yes, Segev! I agree - Grimmy good luck with your searches for work and unfortunately I don't have any contacts on the west coast.

[Segev]

*cough* As a tea party member myself, while I agree with you, Ironwolf, in principle, I would request that we move this discussion to another thread dedicated to the topic, assuming anybody does want to further discuss it. This thread really is meant to be Grimmy's place to talk about his "adventures," and keep us informed in the event that things turn around for him.

[DrakeGrimm]

Thank you for the suggestion to take the politics elsewhere, I appreciate that.


So, here's the deal.


I may have a job, I may also have  a place to live, through the generosity of some former City folk. I'm in the process of getting paperwork filed for both, so nothing is 100% concrete yet.

My SNAP benefits have been reduced due to budget cuts brought about by sequestration, the shut down, and general jackassery in D.C.

November is going to be super tight for me, but that's when I should start working. Just a little further. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm pretty sure this time it's not a train! Thank you for your support and assistance, everyone!

[Kaos Arcanna]

Thank you for the suggestion to take the politics elsewhere, I appreciate that.


So, here's the deal.


I may have a job, I may also have  a place to live, through the generosity of some former City folk. I'm in the process of getting paperwork filed for both, so nothing is 100% concrete yet.

My SNAP benefits have been reduced due to budget cuts brought about by sequestration, the shut down, and general jackassery in D.C.

November is going to be super tight for me, but that's when I should start working. Just a little further. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, and I'm pretty sure this time it's not a train! Thank you for your support and assistance, everyone!

Good to hear from you, Grimmy! Here's hoping the news is good for you!

[Tubbius]

Here's hoping it all works out, Grimm.    Does this mean you'll have to change your nick to DrakeHappy? 

[healix]

Here's to the future!

[OzonePrime]

Great news! Thoughts and prayers have been in your corner. Hope everything keeps getting better!

[Segev]

Good luck, good sir!