Brassfire asked me to pass this message to you guys.
Brassfire, from QFMG forums wrote:My parents said that they would take care of it, but then didn't have the money. This was 10 years ago up to 5 years ago. Back when I was a kid and they were actually responsible, yes.
The Government said that it would help only if it was an "emergency" and then refused to pay for the work necessary because I had called IN PAIN FROM THE DENTISTS OFFICE instead of getting permission two weeks before the emergency appointment... friends had to step in to cover that cost because the government refused to reimburse the dentist and I had $0 to my name after rent at that point. This was 5 years ago.
A friend said he'd take care of it, and actually got me the first root canal and the first three temporary fillings and the replacement fillings a year later for two of the teeth, but then did not have the money to help further. This was 3-2 years ago.
The dentist reduced the costs to $3000 for me instead of many thousands more than that, but I only had $60 to my name at the time and became homeless shortly after that. The $60 went very quickly on food. This was 2 years ago.
I went back on government assistance although I never wanted to be on assistance again, and entered a program to start a business because I am too sick to work fulltime outside the home, and I figured that'd be the only way I'd ever get off welfare.
Because I could theoretically work part-time IF I got the right job and an understanding employer (how many of those are there??), I cannot get disability, although if I got disability I would be able to get the health treatments I need to be able to work fulltime at almost ANY job. But that's not how the system works, so I cannot get disability.
I started my business under the government program. There was no funding, save for $400 that I had scraped up over 6 months by not eating properly, not getting new clothes even when my old ones were rags (and applying for the clothing allowance of $250 then spending it on the business instead, which was allowed), not doing laundry regularly to save on costs, etc. I could not afford advertising. I was lucky to get customers from among friends to build up word-of-mouth. The business does not make a profit, but it covers it's own costs.
I occasionally asked my caseworker about dental benefits, and was told that it would be covered only if it was an emergency. However, if it is truly an emergency, there is no way to get it covered because if you have the time to book an appointment and get the dental work approved... it is by their definition NOT an emergency and will therefore not be covered. Nice catch-22 to save the government money...
I do not trust for help from the government anymore, and if I went to the government for aid in rent and food, I would not be legally allowed to be with my husband because he is from another country... without him it is unlikely that I would be able to travel to the dentist from my friend's house (it's in the country so I couldn't even take a bus), because my friend has a job and cannot drive me anywhere. (Plus which we are already imposing on her.) If I went on government support at this time it would just get worse because there would be nobody to help me to get better.
My husband's parents lent us the money for one root canal and one temporary filling, it was reall expensive because it was in the US. They later forgave the debt as a wedding present, however we cannot borrow money from them now, they've already helped more than they wanted to and they know we couldn't pay it back for at least a year.
I was really hoping that my business would be able to improve fast enough that a part-time job in addition to it would be enough to live on... and get everything paid for. I was hoping last year that my health would last another two years so that I could put a foundation in place. Now the teeth have started breaking and it is obvious that it WON'T last another year.
There is a free dental clinic near my husband's family home... however they told me to go back to Canada, and they told me that they didn't do root canals although the local dentist had actually referred me to them as doing root canals. I do not know of any free clinics in Canada, only reduced-fee clinics... my own dentist already offered a reduced fee and a payment plan.
But when you make $0 a month, what can you offer on a payment plan? (I was making $5 a month but now have to expand the business a little, so there was no profit at all last year. There will be profit this year with the expansion, but not enough for a living.)
I cannot borrow money from the bank, because I don't have a full-time job employed by someone else. My other health conditions prevent that: environmental sensitivy (also known as multiple chemical sensitivity) and chronic fatigue, and dysmenorrhea. The teeth problems may be making the fatigue problem worse, it definitely gives me headaches.
If I get false teeth, I will never be able to play a brass instrument again, which would severely reduce my chances of earning money later on. I am trying to negotiate reduced fees or work exchanges with dentists to reduce the amount I'd have to pay and need help with. But at this stage every little bit helps.
I have lived far under the poverty line all my life. The poverty line in Canada is $10,000 a year and minimum wage... I have lived on $6,000 max. I have tried to earn money as best I could. I SHOULD have been on disability this entire time which would have actually meant that I'd have reached the poverty line, but caseworkers gave me misinformation about my elegibility for disability, and I lived with the results of that misinformation for years.
I do not know how I survived this far. I do know, that all I need is the teeth taken care of, because once those ARE taken care of, the measures I have already put in place to actually earn an income will bear fruit without getting pounded into the ground before they can grow.
I have a place to stay, rent-free. That means, any money I manage to earn while back in Canada goes straight to food, gas, or teeth. My husband will not be allowed to earn money while we're there (because we don't have enough money to apply for immigration) so that kinda sucks. But he'll be very useful because I can't drive and well, I love him too. (My eyes are bad and I couldn't afford glasses either... yet another thing that was SUPPOSED to be covered by the government and wasn't covered.)
Once the last root canal and the three temporaries are replaced, which will be about $1000, I can very probably earn the rest of the money needed either in website design or flute playing, to make sure the rest of my mouth doesn't need more root canals.
I don't need donations of $3000, because I know I can earn the rest. Every little bit counts right now. If the donations get to be too much and I can take care of the rest, I'll give refunds.
Yes, this situation is real. Some of it is caused by my own poor judgement (listening to my caseworkers instead of asking friends to help me get on disability 6 years ago comes to mind... trying to ignore my body's needs for years in order to try to not depend on help from others... becoming vegetarian to save money on food and not doing it properly because I couldn't actually afford vegetables or supplements and then having a doctor order me to eat meat, although I still couldn't afford meat on welfare...) and some of it is caused by the inability of the people responsible for caring for me as a child of actually doing that.
Is it really better to give than to receive? If there is nobody to receive, then the giver cannot give. You know why it's better to give? Because then you don't have to worry about what people will say about your character or motivations.
Yes, I am a real person. If I had an apartment I'd even post my address and phone number here so people could call to verify. But I don't have a place of my own or a phone number of my own. I am not going back on welfare, to do that I would lose everything I've tried to build, I would also lose any chance of being with my husband. The only way to move forward now is to work as much as I'm actually capable of and rely on my friends to help out.
