Rent Assistance for Person on SSI?

I live in Louisiana and my fiancé is 100% disabled due to a car wreck about 5 years ago when a police car rear-ended him at 85 mph. He was left paralyzed and in a wheelchair for 3 years til we found a doctor who was willing to do a research and development surgery on him. He was not expected to ever walk again and had little chance of even surviving the surgery.

My fiancé was once a very successful business owner, but had to spend every penny on trying to walk again. Now our only income is his SSI check. I need advice on how to get government assistance on paying our rent because unfortunately we are currently homeless from waiting on him to get approved for SSI and the amount is not nearly enough for a family of 5 to survive on. Rent around here averages around $700 a month. We have no clue and don't know where to get advice. Any advice is accepted and very much appreciated.

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Judy
Gold Post Medal for All Time! 677 Posts

April 27, 20180 found this helpful

I would contact the Department of Social Services in your area. They should be able to help with housing.

cybergrannie
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April 27, 20180 found this helpful

Hopefully, you will now have this income but I'm sure it has been difficult in the past.

If your husband is on SSI then that means he did not have sufficient credits to qualify for SSDI so the children cannot receive any Social Security benefits.

Undoubtedly you are on several government assistance programs since there are 3 children involved.
Assistance available for a family that qualifies:
Food stamp program should be for available for your family.
Depending on the ages of the children, Medicare should be available for all of their medical needs.
There is also a "benefit" program that provides cash money for other expenses.
There are several other government programs that may be available for a family like yours - nursery/kindergarten/after school care for children so a parent can work.
Free meal benefits for children in school.
Try to be sure that you are using the benefits available for your family before you ask for housing assistance.
Your local Social Services or Family Services should be able to help you apply for all of these services including housing assistance.
They may be able to help you apply to HUD for housing and usually a family with children will not be placed on the bottom of their "list" of applicants.

Louisiana has a long list of agencies that offer help for families in need but you will have to do the research yourself and many have long applications.
You will also find that all agencies have certain qualifications but if you are on government programs this will many times help make you qualified as they will verify information through those agencies.
It is possible you could qualify for a Habitat home but their qualifications are just as strict (or more so) than other agencies.
Find your local habitat office with your zip code:
www.programsforelderly.com/housing-habitat-for-humanity-critical...
Here is a Google search for help in Louisiana and most will have links to your zip code if needed.
www.google.com/search?q=louisanna+help+for+low+income...

Hello
Bronze Post Medal for All Time! 107 Posts

May 17, 20180 found this helpful

why could you not receive compensation for damages from the police department? Is it too late to get a lawyer involved? I bet at elast a few would take this case pro bono.

if for some reason that's not an option then yes, simply pursue social services

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