(06-18-2015, 06:20 AM)HerzeleidMeister Wrote:

(06-16-2015, 02:05 PM)notyouraveragejoe Wrote: Well in general I'll answer this for those who may stumble across this in the future however I'd like to chat with you personally as we're not too far different financially Soni get it totally. Looking from the outside in it seems impossible but once you're actually here tou come to find out there are tons of resources for trans folks and even more for those who are disabled. Throw them together and you have a nice melting pot of resources. I spent a few months in the shelter since either did things all on my own however here they are pretty safe and violence of any kind against lgbt members is punishable to the fullest extend of the law. So I felt pretty safe not that I had to hide who I was but I didn't have to blatantly wear it only sleeve either.

Now to use the SF program you most definitely have to live in the city and county of San Francisco. He r you being on disability means you will automatically get medi-cal and mediciad no matter what County you live in. I do recommend here first since they have a pretty streamlined system for just about everything. After here I'd suggest Sacramento it's cheaper than here not as many trans resources per say but they are working on it, however you will be able to have the option of using Kaiser medi-cal which is only available outright in Sacramento and San Diego all other counties do not offer KP for medical option unless you already had KP and have to switch to medi-cal like I did. Also moving to San Francisco will make both your your incomes go up. I think most of us in sf get 900-1000/mo depends on your living situation. Then you also have the options in the city for housing programs and since you're both disabled you bot qualify for the programs together or you can apply on your own and each have your own place. If you have physical disabilities you will be able to have a worker come in when needed and help with daily tasks. So really my friend it seems daunting but in fact it's just the outside view without really knowing what's here for you. That's what keeps alot of people away from this city, the Price. I've been here a year and a half now and love it! I got into one of the many housing programs and my rent is only half my income they half other places that are 30% of income as well. So for those of us on disability 30-50% income for all bills paid places is a reasonable asking price when my rent could easily be market rate of iono say 1k/mo. The city and other agencies buy out buildings and lease them at lower rates to help keep the elderly, mentally disabled, and physically disabled, and youth off the street. More recently the lgbt community has been added to the must be housed asap so that worked in my favor. Also ironically tomorrow thanks to my wonderful social workers and a few other excellent advocate programs the first LGBT only shelter in the country will open! I'm so proud and honored and I know how much this will help.

But please by all means feel free to email me toyneboi@gmail.com and I'll give you some more detailed information as I don't want to put too much of my business on a site with public access lol.

Thanks for your answer. Living in a shelter is completely out of the question as we have a dog & 4 cats and I'm not gonna give them up just to move to San Francisco. Not to mention my sister and I are not going to separate shelters for an indefinite amount of time. We are both disabled but I take care of her, her disability is more severe. Most cities have shelters that are specific to the gender you are and do not allow for anything else. Plus I'm not a fan of being in one and being homeless just to live in San Francisco, that is just nuts and out of the question. For the same reason living in HUD or city housing for the disabled is also a problem as 100% of the time they do not allow pets. I did check into section 8 and that could be an options allowing us to find a place that allowed pets. This is one major reason why we were gonna do this via RV. Its easier with our pets.

As for getting more money when you move to a different state/city we have moved to several different places over the years and have NEVER noticed a significant increase of hundreds of dollars its more like $25 max if you are lucky. So IMO that is not accurate at all. If you are on disability you may get that amount but it does not mean I will or my sister will get that kind of increase. SSDI is calculated by how much you worked and what you paid into social security not necessarily by where you are living although you do get cost of living increases its not that significant. If you did not have a 6 figure income you do not make enough to squeak by.

I do agree that there are most likely quite a few resources there in San Francisco but at what price would it be to move there? It just may not be worth it for us.