CR student Obama mentions who works, takes care of disabled sister, flooding ruined her home and

[Pirate Smile]

car. She had to send her sister to live with relatives. He is meeting with her and other flooding victims today in Cedar Rapids.

Here is one mention from a speech:

Hope is what I saw in the eyes of the young woman in Cedar Rapids who works the night shift after a full day of college and still can't afford health care for a sister who's ill. A young woman who still believes that this country will give her the chance to live out her dreams.

and another

Just two weeks ago, I heard a young woman in Cedar Rapids who told me she only gets three hours of sleep because she works the night shift after a full day of college and still can’t afford health care for a sister with cerebral palsy. She spoke not with self-pity but with determination, and wonders why the government isn’t doing more to help her afford the education that will allow her to live out her dreams.

This is her situation now:

Katherine Marcano, Mount Mercy student who works part-time and takes care of her sister, who has cerebral palsy. Obama met Marcano during the Iowa CAucus campaign season and mentions in some speeches, as she's unable to afford health insurance for herself and her sister. Her apartment was severely flooded; her car was ruined. She had send her sister to the East Coast to live with relatives.

Obama meets with Cedar Rapids flood victims

The venue for this meeting is the Czech Museum in Cedar Raids; it's supposed to start at 10 o'clock. A series of bar stools have been arranged in a half circle, to be occupied by Obama, Governor Chet Culver & locals who've been hit by the flooding. The museum is situated in the Czech Village, an historic neighborhood in Cedar Rapids which was inundated by water. Reporters and their various types of recording devices are stationed behind a rope line in the southern half of the museum's entrance hall; Obama and crew will be in the north half. Several reporters are sitting on folding chairs. There is a dusty marble floor under our feet, the only walls merely the studs denoting where walls will eventually be replaced. Those of us typing on our laptops fling our arms in the air every once in a while to shoo away one of the pesky flies. The building has power, but no air conditioning.

The Obama campaign provided the following bits of background on the folks who'll be visiting with Obama:

Katherine Marcano, Mount Mercy student who works part-time and takes care of her sister, who has cerebral palsy. Obama met Marcano during the Iowa CAucus campaign season and mentions in some speeches, as she's unable to afford health insurance for herself and her sister. Her apartment was severely flooded; her car was ruined. She had send her sister to the East Coast to live with relatives.

Paul & Robin Morris own the Coffee Emporium in downtown Cedar Rapids & lost everything in the store when the floods hit. They hope to reopen the shop by October, at the latest, but fear operating costs may skyrocket as they've been told their utility bill will go up substantially. The local steam heat plant which served their store was damaged significantly by the flooding.

Betty Daniels lived in her childhood home in Cedar Rapids and saw it flooded through the first flood. She says she's been having problems getting aide from FEMA. She's currently living with friends and hopes to be able to move back into her home by the first of next year.

Scott Jamieson is CEO of a Cedar Rapids non-profit agency that provides mental health counseling, consumer credit counseling and transitional housing for abused children.

Cedar Rapdis Mayor Kay Halloran and Governor Chet Culver will sit in on the discussion. Culver just walked through the assmbly of reporters, joking about arriving early. It's about 9:40 -- 20 minutes before the event is to start.

At 9:58 a.m. the people who were impacted by the floods walked in the museam's entrance hall and took their sets. The national "pool" of press walked in shortly after 10 o'clock. Back to the flood level, there is a rather large and grand chandelier hanging in the vestibule here. The water was so high it touched the bottom pieces of lead crystal hanging off the fixture. Obama enters at 10:21 a.m.

"Thanks to all of our panelists. I want to just start off by making sure that everybody gets a chance to be introduced....(he introduced the folks named above)"

Obama mentioned he was "actually scheduled the day the flood waters started rushing in" to be in Cedar Rapids for a town hall meeting. He called panelist Paul Morris to send his regards that day, and Obama related that Paul Morris had this to say at the end of that conversation on June 11: "We're actually filling up sandbags right now as we speak."

"Last time I was here (at the museum) we had a wonderful. event. It looked very different than it does now you can see that rebuilding is taking place....a testimony to the people of Cedar Rapids," Obama said.

Obama said he wants the federal government to be a "strong, swift, effective partner in dealing with these kinds of disasters."

"This obbiously is not a partisan issue," Obama said, but adding this caveat a few moments later: "There does seem to be some disconnnect between what's hpapheing in Washington and what's happening on the ground."

http://learfield.typepad.com/radioiowa/2008/07/obama-meets-wit.html

[jwirr]

1. I am curious why she cannot go to Social Security Administration

for funds and MA for her sister. She is not liable for her sister's costs. Persons with disabilities are eligible for SSI or SSA or both and MA. They are also considered independent unless they live with their parents. If the sister is a minor there are other programs such as AFDC (don't know the new name) that will cover her needs.

I admire this young lady because she seems to be in the same situation I was with my daughter but she needs to get informed about government help programs. I lived in Iowa and used all of the above programs at one time or another for my daughter.

[Debi]

2. It's just never that easy.

If you lived in Iowa you know that we are lucky here in that advocacy programs help us get the benefits we need to take care of loved ones with disabilities better than most states.

But all the crazy road blocks put in place (thanks to previous fraud and potential future fraud by others) hurt those who need help now. If the young woman receives any student loan $$ for college that may be considered unearned income making her ineligible for some benifits. (If the disabled sister is a minor then SSI is based on household income). If her sister is eligible for a Waiver program she would not be able to use respite care while she goes to work as it can not be used that way (she may be able to use it while she goes to school, this I don't know). Her part-time income may take away dollar-for-dollar whatever FIP (AFDC) she may be entitled to dependant on how much income she brings in. All of this b/c someone before them abused the system.

You are right, she should be able to stay home and care for her sister properly AND afford to go to school. It is always less expensive to allow a person with a disability to remain in their home (with their family) than it is to institutionalize them. (I wonder if the sister could earn CDAC $$ to care for her sister???)

It sounds like she was barely scraping by and somehow able to make it day-by-day and now the floods have destroyed what little 'home' she had.

[Kittycat]

3. Not everyone qualifies for help.

Despite what's been shared, we don't know the total story here.

Not everyone qualifies for government help and SSI. I happen to know a little bit about that.

[sandnsea]

5. Isn't there a Medicare Part B premium?

Isn't it something like $100 a month? Maybe that's what she's talking about, in addition to the rest of her sister's needs. If she gets SSD, it's only around $600 a month. In some states, that is just above the poverty line so there isn't much other assistance available. Then, if there's any kind of inheritance or other asset, then she wouldn't even qualify for that. Then she wouldn't be able to get the Medicare either. Hard to say what's going on.

[kiowa02]

4. It is a complicated case

Katherine Marcano ( whom I personally know for many years) is a 23 years old college student. Over a year ago her mother became very ill with a heart condition so she stepped in to help. She took care of her mom for over 3 months and then came back to Iowa with her disabled sister who has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. She had to start from scratch getting the necessary information to enroll Barbara in school, applying for Medicaid and any other things the people from the school told her to apply for. She was denied every single one of them because she needed to obtain legal documentation proving that she is a legal guardian or at least had a power of attorney. It took a long time but thru the Iowa legal aid which is a free service she was able to obtain that, and began the process of getting the help she needed. But then after months, and forms the final verdict was DENIED because now she needed to prove Barbara Citizenship and residency in the state of Iowa.... the situation was screwed up and totally insane. She did not even had the money to get what they were asking for... so it took a few more months for her to obtain what they ask for so she began the process... got approved for Medicaid got the SSI process going and so on. She applied for the Iowa Handicapped waiver to have more access to resources but was placed on an 18 months waiting list "not enough funds available." She is working the third shift at fedex so she can go to school in the morning while her sister is at school and then be home when her sister finish school for the day... because she can only work part time she doesn't qualify for in home care. Now with the floods and summer there is no place she can send her sister to, to to make matters worse the flood came and she end up staying with friends until she was able to send Barbara away to a safer better place... she then went to the Kirkwood apartments to stay with her friend... and 4 other females in the same apartment. I know that when things would get wild she will sleep in her car or just go to work and find a spot to sleep in weather it was in a chair or in the locker rooms area.
She lost her car she bought last fall with her studentss loans...her insurance company paid her but not the actual value so she end it up making a down payment on a car she cant really afford with a 19% apr....she has very low credit score because she defaulted on a credit card which she already pay off...so she is little by little improving her credit her employer and the people at fedex were all very nice to her and some of the employees collected money and help her out ..which is how she was able to send her sister back to east coast with her mother who is going thru a series of test relating to her heart condition. Katherine s dream is to graduate from college and hopefully even getting her masters degree, but with student loans, limited income, the care of her sister, and her mother health sometimes it does overwhelms her. I can tell you that she is smart and strong and definitely compassionate. She supports Senator Obama but she makes it clear that some of his views do not reflect his, but it is totally fine she still admires him and wishes to be successful as well.