[Felvtalk] Can we help this woman.....

[Amani Oakley]

Hi Robert

I don’t think it is an option for her to check into a hospital because the animals would likely then be confiscated and she is very worried about them. I am so impressed with her refusal to hand them over to a shelter. She tried to do that on one occasion, but they wanted her to sign a form saying they had full authority to do whatever they wanted with the animals, so she refused to sign and went home again with her animals.

She is currently in a motel which allows animals, so yes, they are with her right now. Her son is also staying with her to help her out and the only income coming in is from his part-time employment. I guess that is what they are using to feed the animals and to buy some groceries. She told me that a woman had called her and offered to buy them some groceries, and she asked instead if the woman would be willing to pay for a vet visit for one of her cats, so that was what the donor did.

I understand completely where you’re coming from Robert, in terms of spending all your money on your cats. With respect to time, what I really need is someone to help me locate a good deal (I have done a great deal of searching on Kijiji and found a few excellent ones no one has responded to my emails), and to inspect the mobile home/small home and to finalize the deal. The longer she is in the motel, the more money has to go to the rental rather than the mobile home. Several of the ones I saw had “rent to own” options, so ideally, she could put any extra money towards that option rather than paying for the motel room.

I agree with you that she needs social assistance and I think she was getting assistance with her housing until she got evicted early this year. Problem is her Form 8 is expiring on Monday and she hasn’t found a place that will accept the form and which fits the criteria set out in the Form 8 form. Frankly, though, if I can get her into some other form of permanent housing like a mobile form, she should be okay.

I also agree with you Robert that we are all very gun-shy about getting scammed. I confess that this is why it took me so long to get going on this (in addition to my insane work commitments!). I wanted to speak with her, check out her story as much as possible, etc. I mean, there’s no way to check things out 100% of course, but I think she is legit – especially when she does things like redirect donor money away from herself and to pay her vet instead.

Amani

From: Felvtalk [mailto:felvtalk-bounces at felineleukemia.org] On Behalf Of ROBERT CHAPEL
Sent: June-01-16 8:12 PM
To: felvtalk at felineleukemia.org
Subject: Re: [Felvtalk] Can we help this woman.....




Having a hard time ( as usual) getting this all straight in the digest form....ie... where this woman and her cats actually stand at the moment....but...

I would suggest, as a possibility,  ( and I can only remember 2 instances when I have made this suggestion) that she have herself admitted to the local hospital and tell them she has NO where to go upon discharge....though should not admit this up front.     The last 11 yrs of my life I worked as a Hospital ER and Inpatient Social Worker  and Hospitals ( at least in NYS) are not allowed to discharge patients who are homeless and in need of medical services post discharge....  This will put a discharge planner on the case who will assist with finding a place for her to live.....  Admittedly...   it will not be the perfect arrangement but might buy her some time and will definitely be better than nothing.....     I could say with assurance if she lived in NYS that this would BE a good answer.... SC could well be different....     If I could speak with her directly I would know better if this could be an answer for her  ( are her animals all still with her at this point??)
I have time I could devote to this but precious little extra money.... my own cats are eating up my expendable income....

I cannot tell you how many times I was severely scammed by people doing this simply TO get housing..... bout time the secret was out for someone who deserves the assistance ( legitimate decent people seldom DO this intentionally)....      Just a suggestion....     I'm also wondering if she has home health services??  Health Insurance??  Likely has state Medicaid given her situation and the Section 8 approval.....   She NEEDS state Social Services involved

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