Disclaimer, I'm posting this regarding a friend of mine who I'll refer to as 'T'. She would never ask for advice like this but she's potentially going to be living with me and I want to be able to help her as much as I can.
My friend T recently transitioned from male to female last fall. Before her surgery, her retail job told her that she could have her manager job back after she recovered. During her recovery, she depleted all her savings on living expenses and when she reached out to her old job to start work again, they told her they had filled her position and have only been able to give her about 10 hours a week for the last month or so. She did not get anything in writing and does not have any leverage to get her old job back. Her home situation is not good, she lives with her mom (who is abusive) who charges her $100-200 for rent and she also has to buy her own food. T plans to move out in August to share an apartment with another friend of ours, which costs about $350/mo for rent.
T didn't know that she would need to make a $350 security deposit on the apartment, and she doesn't have the money. She reached out to me saying that she feels like she should just kill herself because she's not going anywhere in life and is just a burden to others. I offered to pay her security deposit and for her to stay with me for the summer for cheap rent, on the condition that she gets a job where I live first (Southwest Michigan) and seeks help for her depression. She has no savings, no college degree, and requires medication the rest of her life since she is transgender. She wants to get off of her mom's insurance and doesn't want to ask her mom for any help or ever see her again after she moves out.
I don't know where to start to get help for T, if she's able to get set up with Medicaid or get food stamps or if there are other resources that can help get her on her feet. I'm concerned about how she'll be able to afford her medications or get help for her depression if she takes herself off of her mom's insurance. I have no experience with any assistance programs and don't know what advice to give her. Any advice or suggestions are appreciated, thank you so much for the help!
Edit: I live in the city where she'd be moving to, so if she got a job where I live before moving in with me she'd ideally keep that job when she moves into the apartment.
Edit 2: She was not eligible for FMLA for as long as she needed it because she worked part time. Please don't comment saying she should have gotten it, I'm looking for help for where she's at right now.
Submitted May 01, 2018 at 09:36AM by trikcdust https://ift.tt/2JIrdm8
