Don't Miss Out!
In case you missed our 2011 Medicaid Boot Camp Training, buy the DVD today and get your knowledge of Medicaid in to shape for 2012! To find out more about the our Medicaid Boot Camp Training DVD click here, preview the DVD below, or purchase your copy today!
Give Generously This Holiday Season— Donate to Elder Law of Michigan
Elder Law of Michigan, long known for the Legal Hotline for Michigan Seniors, is also the place people call when they are in need and have run out of options. Assistance from our programs becomes their lifeline to hope, health and economic security. Here is the story of one client who called us for help.
Five years ago, Mr. W. was forced to leave his job because of severe kidney failure. He knew he had a pension waiting for him, so he contacted his pension plan administrator seeking early access to his benefit. The administrator told him he couldn't receive his pension for ten more years, when he reached age 55. Mr. W. feared that he wouldn't live that long.
He called Elder Law of Michigan and our Pension Rights Project discovered he was eligible to receive an immediate disability pension. Pension Project Director Christa Schofield also concluded he should have been receiving his pension since 2006 when he had to leave his job, and convinced the pension plan administrator that Mr. W. should start receiving his disability pension of $140 per month, as well as all unpaid benefits retroactive to 2006-with interest! This made a measurable difference in his life.
In our conversations with Mr. W., we also discovered that despite having very low income, he hadn't applied for Medicaid. Our Benefits Enrollment and Options Center stepped in to help him access that benefit as well.
Your contributions make this kind of critical help possible. You help protect people who often have nowhere else to turn and you provide them with One Call for Help.
We are counting on you to give first and give generously to Elder Law of Michigan this holiday season. To Donate now click here! Thank you for all you do; all the best to you, your family this holiday season!
Meet Ms. Phillips-- A MiCAFE Success Story!
Like many others that age into poverty, Ms. Phillips, a widow, in Hillsdale County did not feel that she deserved help and did not know what to do to make ends meet. With mounting bills and other medical expenses, she had to rely almost completely on emergency food pantries to put enough food on the table. This meant she was usually eating canned foods and making multiple, long drives to food pantries. Then, the director of Hillsdale County Senior Center gave her a Michigan Coordinated Access to Food for the Elderly (MiCAFE)— a program of Elder Law of Michigan— flier and suggested she contact MiCAFE to get help applying for the Bridge Card over the phone. Ms. Phillips did not realize that there were other options, she was not aware of the Bridge Card or how it helped people buy food or serve as a gateway to other benefits.
Working hard her entire life, Ms. Phillips was hesitant to ask for help, but with mounting bills and more than $550 in needed home repairs, she reached out to MiCAFE. She completed the application over the phone with the assistance of a MiCAFE staff member, who helped her to easily understand and answer the questions. She then went to Hillsdale County Senior Center to review and sign her application with the help of a MiCAFE volunteer, who sent the application to DHS for her.
Ms. Phillips remembers a day when she was unable to spare 98 cents to buy a cucumber, now she receives $93 a month to eat, fresh, healthy food. She is able to enjoy buying healthy food and shopping at the grocery store in her community. The MiCAFE volunteers also helped Ms. Phillips get in touch with other local agencies and programs that have assisted her with desperately needed home repairs and weatherization, making her home more energy efficient and lowering her monthly utility bills.
Choked with gratitude Ms. Phillips expresses that without the staff and volunteers of MiCAFE she would not have known that she was eligible to apply for food assistance, let alone make it though the application process on her own. She is so grateful to have fresh food to eat and feels a tremendous relief to have her home repaired in time for winter. If you, like Mrs. Philips, are struggling to make ends meet, find a MiCAFE Service Center near you! Call MiCAFE at 1-877-664-2233 or view our locations here.
Volunteer With Us!
At Elder Law of Michigan, we rely on volunteers like you to successfully and compassionately provide information and services to older adults. Our mission is to protect and promote the rights, health and economic well-being of older adults as they age. Thanks to our devoted, hard-working team of volunteers we continue be a trusted resource for older adults. “Volunteers are truly the backbone of Elder Law of Michigan” Shelia Robison, Benefits Enrollment and Options Center. If you are a law student, attorney, retiree, or someone interested in sharing your time with a charitable organization, please join us! For more information about volunteering with Elder Law of Michigan, please click here.
"The service and the support that your agency has shown Volunteers of America (VOA) Michigan over the last years have been excellent. Again I look forward to keeping that service and support near to our senior residents and population."
-Ross Howard, Service Coordinator, Coventry Place Apartments, Volunteers of America Michigan (June 8, 2011)
