tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post116600241608679282..comments2024-01-26T10:20:37.836+00:00Comments on Diary of a Goldfish: The Goldfish Guide to Avoiding HomelessnessThe Goldfishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15213378454070776331noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-1166097506580682772006-12-14T11:58:00.000+00:002006-12-14T11:58:00.000+00:00Two things:"It is the system, not the individuals ...Two things:<BR/><BR/>"It is the system, not the individuals working for them which are at fault."<BR/><BR/>Sometimes. However in several cases I personally know of in this town, including my own, the system provided us but the individuals working for them failed to apply the rules properly. Which leads me to the second thing, <I>Make sure you know the system inside out.</I><BR/><BR/>I'm not saying you should shout or strop at the council staff. But read all the information you can and challenge them on every point. In my own case, I had to argue with one person who was accusing me of benefits fraud; one person who failed to apply a rule which means that if you unexpectedly find you cannot afford to continue living in your home, the council must pay full rent for several weeks, even above the "personal allowance", while you try to find somewhere cheaper; another person who didn't take into account my DLA award-status and argued right up to the point when I showed her their own rules about disabled people; and of course the lovely girl who put me on the list for accessible housing (still nothing 18 months on) and suggested that the best thing I could do to get a ground-floor flat would be to have a baby.<BR/><BR/>As for a Housing/DLA comparison, I'd say the Housing systems are more inefficient but the DLA forms are more demoralising.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11639094548415759560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-1166074236897510692006-12-14T05:30:00.000+00:002006-12-14T05:30:00.000+00:00We have similar program in US called Food Link tha...We have similar program in US called Food Link that provides good, but not top quality fresh foods, and some over surplus from area farmers.<BR/><BR/>People who are 'economically challenged' hop from food program to food program, so they have enough cash to pay the other bills...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-1166036369857138852006-12-13T18:59:00.000+00:002006-12-13T18:59:00.000+00:00wow...i guess i'm not shocked, but i am saddened t...wow...i guess i'm not shocked, but i am saddened that it's legal to specify that a landlord does not want to work with renters who are on assistance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10557263.post-1166015871087184652006-12-13T13:17:00.000+00:002006-12-13T13:17:00.000+00:00You said that paying for one's rent is the most im...You said that paying for one's rent is the most important expense after food. An increasing number of people can only afford paying the rent if they cut down the expenses on food radically, often leading to malnurishment (is that an English word??!) or illness because of low quality food. In Hamburg we have something called <I>The Hamburg Dining Table</I>, an organisation run by volunteers collecting food from stores and restaurants, which often is of very high quality, but cannot be sold anymore, because of the very tight rules shops and restaurants have to follow. It started very small, but now has become a very big organisation with more than 100 volunteers. <A HTTP://WWW.HAMBURGER-TAFEL.DE = HREF="" REL="nofollow">Here is a link</A>, which unfortunately is available in German only. There are places all over the city, where people can collect the food. A lot of people say that they would not be able to survive without it. It has been running for years in Hamburg and other cities have already established similar organisations. For those who do have problems in making their living: ask if such a service is available. For all others: think about setting up a similar service!BloggingMonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17767164739217269193noreply@blogger.com