Summer Feeding Program 2014 in Toledo and Beyond

The great organization Feed Lucas County Children announced their summer feeding schedule in the Toledo area for 2014 this week.  This is part of a federal program that allows kids too poor to get food (who would be covered with the school lunch program from September through May) to get a nourishing meal. To find the nearest location near you, call 419 720 1106.

If you are not in the Toledo area, there's a toll-free hotline to find the summer feeding program provider near you: 1-866-3 - HUNGRY (348-6479) or 1-877-8-HAMBRE (in Spanish).  Or use this website created by WhyHunger. 

Free Books for Preschool Children

Country music singer/songwriter Dolly Parton started Imagination Library in the 1995 to provide a free book a month to children from birth to 5 years old in eastern Tennessee.  The books are to nurture the love of books--and literacy--in households where children might otherwise not have access to reading material. Each month, a child who has been registered for the program by their parent or legal guardian is mailed an age-appropriate book to keep.

Since then it has spread through over 1,000 affiliates through the U.S., Great Britain, Australia and Canada.  If you are the parent or guardian of a child under 5, see if your area has an Imagination Library affiliate and if they are open for new registrations.  In the United States, this is the page to input your zip code and see if there is a program that covers your area.  There is also material available for the blind at no cost for eligible families, and reduced cost for others.

Free Hair for Kids, and Free Head Coverings for Bald Women and Kids

Outside of male pattern baldness, hair loss can cause loss of self-esteem during a stressful time in one's life: cancer treatment, or some other illness that caused it in the first place.  Here's some places that can help.

Locks of Love is famous for providing hairpieces for children under 21 years of age who have low income and suffer from permanent or temporary hair loss.  The hair is donated by loving people throughout the United States for those suffering from permanent hair loss, and artificial hair in the case of those with temporary loss.

Children With Hair Loss helps those under 21, too, but there are no financial limits--free hairpieces are available to all kids suffering from a medical hair loss.  Check out their website, or call 734-379-4400.

For both children and women suffering from hair loss, the Beautiful and Bald Movement will give a free "dome decorating package" which consists not of hair, but something to gussy up the bald head.  These could be scarves, hats, stickers, temporary tattoos, and more.  The actual contents vary, depending on what contributions they may have recieved. 

The American Cancer Society often distributes free or low-cost wigs to cancer victims through their local chapters.  To find one near you, see this resource search page and specifiy under program type  "wigs-free or reduced cost."

More Money to Help Raise Children. Whether You Like it or Not.

A few weeks ago, the Toledo Blade wrote a story ongrandparents and aunts and uncles who are providing kinship care for children in their family when the children’s parents can’t.  It covered the kinship program in Ohio that we mentioned awhile back, but this was the money quote:

 “According to (the Annie Casey Foundation’s),  fewer than 12 percent of kinship families receive assistance from Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, the formal name for welfare, though almost all children in such families are eligible for this aid.”

 Yes, people, nobody wants to depend on “welfare,” even if they are poor, but the truth is, if you need it, you need it.  The “free money” scammers rose to prominence as worker’s wages lost their buying power, but distaste for “welfare mooches” grew.  So the scam artists told everybody that there was “free money” out there in the form of “grants” that they are entitled to.  In truth, most federal money is available to individuals NOT as grants, but as…social welfare programs.  Like TANF (temporary assistance to needy families). 

 As the name implies, it’s not for a lifetime—you are only eligible for 60 months (5 years) total for your lifetime.  But if you are trying to feed some kids, you may need it right now, and it might keep you afloat till a decent job comes along.  It’s not about you, it’s about making sure kids get what they need.

How do you find it?  It has different names, depending on the state where you’re accessing it. The details for eligibility vary from state to state, but there are some federal guidelines on eligibility. Some are cutting TANF big-time, like my native state, Michigan, which manages to do this (and cut the earned income credit for the working poor) while giving tax cuts to the wealthy.  Stay classy, Michigan!

 Here’s a link that can tell you what the current name is for whatever they used to call the Welfare Department in your state, and where you can get current state information on TANF.

 

Financial Help for Cosmetic and Craniofacial Surgery for Children

For children disfigured by birth defects or abuse, there are sources of help for cosmetic and craniofacial surgery.  One of the oldest organizations that provides surgical help for children, regardless of their ability to pay, is the Shriner’s Hospitals.  The range of their coverage includes cleft lips and palates, burns and orthopedics.  For more information, call 800-237-5055 .

Fresh Start is a nonprofit created to help children with deformities that are congenital, or caused by abuse or accident who are less than 17 years old, and are uninsured or underinsured.  Here’s a list of procedures that can be performed.    Children around the world are eligible for help, but the applications are separate—be sure to pick the right one.  Their toll-free number is 888-551-1003.

Little Baby Face Foundation provides surgery for a number of children’s conditions, including ear canal deformities, jaw deformities, buck teeth, TMJ surgery, hearing restoration surgery and more.  Call 212.333.LBFF  for more information.

Operation Smile, the worldwide organization that provides corrective facial surgery for children around the world, also has a page on sources of assistance for American kids.  The United States page lists organizations and support groups dealing with craniofacial deformities, some of whom have information on insurance issues, financial support and other sources of information.

More Charities that Provide Adaptive Equipment to Children

In addition to the various loan closets throughout the country that help disabled children and adults--and various ways of financing or receiving donations for adaptive equipment that I've found in the past--there are some charities that accept applications for adaptive equipment for children.  Here are three nationwide programs:

Firsthand Foundation covers many medical needs for children, but also vehicle modification and adaptive equipment.  They don't do van purchases or home modifications, but will finance many smaller things.

Wheel to Walk Foundation provides many adaptive devices that may not be covered by insurance, like shower chairs, therapy tricycles, etc. 

Variety, the show business charity, has a program called Kids on the Go, which provides mobility equipment for disabled children, including tricycles, car seats, stollers, van lifts, house ramps, wheelchairs and more.  Variety suggests that if there is a local chapter of their organization near you that you apply there first,  but if not, you apply to the national office.

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.

Financial Help and Grants for Adoption

Most government agencies and child welfare organizations agree: a child is helped by being placed in a permanent home if possible. That’s why financial incentives are offered to help the adoption process, and sometimes outright grants and tax credits. Often, special incentives and aid is available to help the adoption of “special needs” children: disabled or older children, or children of special situations, like siblings. The Department of Health and Human Services has a list of financial aid from states, as well as each state’s definition of a “special needs child,” and post-adoption services. On the federal level, the IRS website has information on tax credits available to cover the cost of adoption and how to file for them.
Some foundations also provide adoption grants for those in financial need. These include the Gift of Adoption Fund, the C S Foundation Inc. (318-671-8772, 10965 Cornerstone Place, Keithville, :A 71047-8587), and A Child Waits Foundation. There may be other more local foundations that you can find on the Foundation Directory for Individuals database, available at Foundation Center cooperating collections around the country. Finally, check out this article from the Adoptive Families website with more aid options.

Update:  More financial help options at the website for A Child Waits.