Low-Cost Dental Care

Finding low-cost dental services can involve finding state programs (where they exist) as well as schools of dentistry and oral hygiene where students will work under the supervision of professors or teachers. In Dental Guide USA, both of those types of assistance are listed: there is a listing for state dental health programs, but also for dental and oral hygiene schools. Contact those institutions in your area and see if they run programs. There is also a listing for local dental programs in some areas. The state site, however, covers Medicaid-related coverage in general, so if your state’s dental programs for the poor are outside Medicaid, they may not be listed.


For that reason, you should also check the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research site for low-cost dental help. It also has a link to dental/oral hygiene schools and state programs beyond Medicaid. Finally, the site for Donated Dental Services has a map with state-by-state listings for applicants who are “either disabled, elderly or medically compromised and have no other way for paying for dental care,” run by the National Foundation for Dentistry for the Handicapped.  If you look at each state, the qualifying criteria  sometimes go beyond that and include non-handicapped people. For Ohio, for example, they list the Options plan, which takes non-disabled poor people, too. So click on your state and see if you qualify for dental coverage.  In Toledo, Oh, try the Dental Center of Northwest Ohio.

For children with certain special conditions (cerebral palsy, neuromuscular disorders, mental developmental disorders, or organ transplants), for whom dentistry presents special problems, the Grottoes of North America Humanitarian Foundation has a program to help provide dental services.  See their website or call 614-933-0711 for more information.

Once More With Feeling--Stop Loss Pay Deadline Extended till March 4 18th, 2011

Once again, the deadline for applying for retroactive Stop Loss pay--compensation for having your tour of duty involuntarily extended--has been extended until March 18, 2011.   It's extended until March 18th, 2011.  Here's where you go to get more information on the stop loss pay extention.

Help if You Are On The Move, For Whatever Reason

From what I can glean from patrons at the Toledo Public Library, some homeless people are heading off to warmer climates. Can you blame them? If I had to live outside, it wouldn’t be here in our subfreezing cold. But where do you find resources to move to a strange town, and find out where you might stay, food to eat, and more? What if your move has been caused by some dislocation—fire, domestic violence, etc? Where do you get information?

The oldest organization is Travelers Aid, a string of agencies across the country whose mission is: “To advance and support a network of human service provider organizations committed to assisting individuals and families who are in transition, or crisis, and are disconnected from their support systems.” The central office doesn’t provide any direct help, but you can find their affiliates on their site.

There are several online places to look for shelter. One is to check out a locale and see if it has a 211 service—a phone service whereby if you dial 211, you find out about social services like housing and food. You can also try the Homeless Shelter Directory, which has a list of shelters that have registered with them, though it’s not exhaustive.

The Homeless Shelter Directory also has a listing for food pantries and food banks, as does this listing from Feed America. Food banks usually don’t deal directly with individuals who need help, but they can tell you who their clients are, and the Homeless Shelter Directory does have a few soup kitchens on its list. Again, if your destination city has a 211 database, use it for a more complete list.

Grants and Easements for Environmental Preservation

Besides preserving the ecosystems of government-owned lands, federal and state governments often offer grants, tax breaks and technical assistance (advice) to the owners of private lands in order to preserve those ecosystems.  Of course, this is only for people who own land is is ecologically valuable, especially wetlands and environments that support rare species of animals and plants.   One of these is the federal wetlands program, but many states offer programs, too;  Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma, Idaho, even northeast Indiana (among many others) offer programs to land owners in the form of grants and easements (payments to keep the land undeveloped and in its natural state).   The National Landowners Network has a site that gives a state-by-state and federal rundown of financial incentives for land owners who agree to make their environmentally valuable land kept in its natural state, with commentary on its impact and usefulness to the land owner.

Where to Find Free Clothes to Get a Job

People are trying to find work, but after being out of work for a long period of time, you may not have the right clothes to wear to an interview, much less show up at a work site every day.  Where could you get clothes for this?  In a number of places around the country, groups are springing up to help.

Among those for women are Women's Alliance, which has a lot of locations around the country, like it's Toledo, Ohio affiliate, Suitably Attired.  There's also Dress for Success, which has many affiliates around the country.  In Chicago, there's the Bottomless Closet.

But there's stuff for men, too.  Career Gear is based in New York City, but has affiliates in San Antonio, New Haven, CT, Jersey City, Miami, Houston and Washington, DC.  and provides donated clothing items for men.  Among those providing clothing for both men and women seeking jobs is the LA Urban League, Working Wardrobes of Costa Mesa, CA, and Wardrobe for Opportunity in the Bay Area of California.

Money to Help You Raise Your Grandchildren, Nieces and Nephews

What is “subsidized guardianship?” It is money received to help raise children that you are fostering, as opposed to birth children or adopted children. Once, there was only money to help raise foster children that weren’t your relatives. Now, the federal and many state governments realize that grandparents, aunts and uncles need financial help when stepping into foster parenting shoes. Towards that end, the federal government passed the Kinship Caregiver Support Act, which authorizes foster care money for relatives who are raising children. Many states have adopted this, and provide money for relatives raising children.  In Ohio, you apply through the Office of Jobs and Family Services link. (866-866-3537).  There is also a Kinship Care Permancy Incentive program for extra help for poorer families (not over 300% of the poverty level). 
The Child Welfare League, AARP and others have worked together to create information for every state about the laws and financial aid available to relatives who foster their grandchildren, nieces and nephews. The Grandfact page has a drop-down menu of states on the right-hand side of the page that you can click to find financial aid and legal information for kinship fostering, and organizations in your state that can help you.

Some states have also instituted the Kinship Navigator Program, which helps relatives find out how to apply for the money and provides other types of support for child rearing, like support groups. To find out if your state has such a program, go to google and put in: “kinship navigator program” or "kinship care" (remember to use the quote marks) and the name of your state. If your state has this program, you should be able to find a link to it for more information.

Free Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for the Elderly and Young Children

Most people know about food stamps, a program to help low-income people buy food. There is also a program to help low-income seniors and families with small children and pregnant women buy fresh food from farmer’s markets and roadside stands. It’s the Senior Farmer’s Market Nutritional Program and the WIC (Women Infants and Children) Farmer's Market program.


Both are for people within 185% of the poverty level (in 2010, that’s about $20,000 for a household of one, or about $40,000 for a household of 4). These are the income guidelines. The senior program is for people 60 or older, and WIC is for pregnant or postpartum women (who have just given birth), and children up to five years old. They are available in 42 states, DC, some territories, and several Indian agencies.

People in these programs are given coupons that can be used to buy fresh, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, and herbs at certified roadside stands, farmer’s markets or agricultural programs. For a full list of markets, contact the agency in charge in your state.  For more information on this part of the WIC program and more food help for pregnant women and young children, call the toll-free number in your state.