Where can I get help?

[questions]

My family is broke if thats how you want to put it. My husband is an immigrant. He had a good job untill i got pregnant with our 2nd. Now we cant afford anything. I am using some ones computer as we speak. If i had one it would be pawned already. I passed this site looking for places to get my children some clothes. Can anyone tell me where? The Salvation Army had little to nothing. They did give me a crib! Bless those people. If anyone knows any other places that can help me, please let me know.

[cptacek]

Your local Catholic Church can help you. You don't have to be Catholic or even Christian.

[PetMom]

You do not have what state you live in (assuming you are in U.S.).

Whatever state you live in google 'homeless' and your state.

Even if you are not homeless you should be able to find some resources and info that you could use. Social services counseling for what is available for your children, what your rights are as tenants to keep your home/apt. and where to find out about food, etc...

Good idea to check your local Churches. Each one even out in the suburbs (if in big city) may offer different things to families in need. And as poster mentioned you do not have to be affiliated with the Church.

[BlackDiamond]

I'm not sure I follow the first part of your post. Your husband had a good job until you got pregnant? Do you mean that he lost his job right around the time that you found out? Or that you could really only afford one child and proceeded to have a second anyway and now can't afford it? Do you work as well? Have you weighed the costs of daycare vs. what you could be earning to help? Has your husband looked for a second job? Have you? My best friend is pregnant right now and she is still working and doing perfectly fine.

I'm guessing that you don't work and he is out of work. You said he is an immigrant? Is his status legal? Because that obviously makes a difference.

Do you own a home? Can you sell it and rent a cheap place? Do you have extra rooms you could rent out?

Do you have a car you can sell?

Do you have debt? Is there anything you can stop paying? Having a good credit score is nice but eating is more important.

You need to both get more income. Even if it means washing dishes or scrubbing toilets. Check with temp agencies for work. One of you needs to take a second job, even if it's just fast food. Check Craigslist for odd jobs.

Have you considered giving this child up for adoption when he's born? Honestly, if you are near homeless, that might be the way to go for everyone's sake. I have a friend who gave up her 4th because she really couldn't afford her 1st, 2cnd & 3rd and decided, finally, that the 4th was better off. She did the right thing and gave him up to a better life. It was very selfless of her and the baby is doing well. He's 4 now. She is still sad but realizes it was the right thing to do. I'm only mentioning this because your post makes it sound like you have zero income and have already sold everything you own. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

As for right now, check with local churches for supplies. Do not take taxpayer money unless you have exhausted all other options. Do not have any more kids until you can afford them.

As an aside, it is a huge pet peeve of mine when people do not plan their families and have kids they can't afford. The kids are the ones who suffer. I got my tubes tied in my mid 20's because I knew I would never be able to afford to have kids. I wanted them badly, but I was responsible. Almost 10 years later, I am still sad that I don't have kids but I know I did the right thing. There is no way, even now, that I could support a family on my salary and I make close to 50K a year.

[Ima saver]

Your blog does not make sense. I re read some of the things you posted. One time you said you were 18, then 24, then37. I also read where you bought a timeshare that you were roped into. You have posted 130 times.

[cptacek]

"questions" is the account that Jeffrey uses to post questions that he gets via email or some other way and posts for that person. He then forwards our advice to that person. The person won't respond here because they don't have an account here.

[PaydayLoner]

Another couple thoughts:

Your local Community Action office will probably have information on programs available to help low-income people. Check in the phone book to see if there's an office locally.

Also, you might qualify for food stamps (now called SNAP). Here's a link to help you find local offices. Ask for emergency or expedited food stamps if you need money right now, and that will speed up the application so it'll be handled within a few days.

[jeffrey]

"questions" is the account that Jeffrey uses to post questions that he gets via email or some other way and posts for that person. He then forwards our advice to that person. The person won't respond here because they don't have an account here.

This is correct. I do encourage the people to join the forum and answer questions that you have to help their situation more, but it seems many don't. Still, the info is a good resource for others that may be in a similar situation.