Rant on charities and why I will stop contributing to most.

I've been on the phone all day trying to get help for a CP patient whose insurance (Kaiser) and Medicare would not help him get a motorized scooter. None of the Palsey organizations or any of the six charities I called would help. Each one in turn referred me to some other charity which in turn referred me some other charity. The person (not a relative) we are trying to help is dirt poor and we help pay for most of the medicines and medical care. He could not afford to sign up for Medicare Part B without starving every month because his pension is just big enough to not allow him to get much help but too small to meet living expenses and Medicare Part B. It's almost like the money being sent to all these charities is being used to pay for salaries and employment costs rather than for actual help to people who need it. From now on, I will only contribute to the Red Cross and the two homeless shelters near where I live. I am totally exasperated. I guess we (spouse and me and one child) will end up buying this scooter but it will cause us a little pain financially.

Anyway I just wanted to vent.

UNITED CEREBRAL PALSY
OF PRINCE GEORGE’S AND
MONTGOMERY COUNTIES
Wm. Irwin Buck Center
3901 Woodhaven Lane
Bowie, Maryland 20715
(301) 262-4993
(301) 262-4982 FAX
(301) 262-4982 TDD/TT
(800) 621-9403

MARYLAND
Assistive Technology Guaranteed Loan Program
Maryland Technology Assistance Program
2301 Argonne Drive, Room T-17
Baltimore, MD 21218
Contact: Michael Dalto, Tony Rice
Phone: 410/554-9233 (Voice/TDD)
Phone: 800/832-4827 (Voice/TDD)
E-mail: loans@mdtap.org
Web site: www. mdtap.org


http://www.resna.org/AFTAP/success/index.html

my take on the red cross is that they use more money, comparatively speaking, for admin than for helping. that's why i won't contribute to them. i wish i could be of help but the only suggestion i would make is to check locally . . . which it sounds like you have already done.

maybe you should contact your consumer reporter at your local tv network. if it becomes a story, you might get financial help from the community.

ellen fl

With orders from a Doctor. We had this done in November of last year.

ON EDIT: Does your State not have medicaid? In Florida Medicaid will pay premiums for Medicare for people with low incomes.

clothes, food,& time but will not give money for them to suck up in their "overhead".

Hopefully there might be some posters here at DU who can help after they read your story.

Also, I wonder if you could get some media exposure for the story...maybe the local paper or tv station? That might bring out some donors. Or maybe someone has a used scooter that they no longer need...

I know that here in NYC whenever a story like this is printed in one of the papers, the people in need usually get money or donations of what they need..

scroll down the left side for links..by city or by state.
You may be able to get some legal help.

http://cerebralpalsyabc.com/peoplewithdisabilities/

less in the long run for his friends to pay the premium than for most of his medicines and medical care.