Warning: This post may become rant-like.
This week marked that truly awesome biannual event I like to call My Housing and Home Support Headache. Five years ago, I filled out some forms to get put on a wait list for accessible housing in Ottawa. Twice a year, I phone in and check on my status, and two things always happen:
- My status never really changes
- I get angry
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| A fairly accurate depiction of me during these times. |
It's usually around this time that I also look into home support and attendant care. Around the same time I received forms for housing, I also got a package with information about disability support services in and around the city from a rehab centre I occasionally got to. I've contacted several organizations and providers over the past several years, and it's always the same thing:
- The lead doesn't pan out
- I get angry (Noticing a theme here yet?)
I've been denied various services for various reasons: I'm not disabled enough, I'm too disabled, I'm too young, I'm too old etc. There's usually always a runaround, too. I'll phone service A, who will tell me to phone service B. Then service B will send me back to service A, and so on. At this point, I'm seriously half-expecting to be told to do the Hokey-Pokey and turn myself around.
A few days ago, I asked about getting some updated supports info (the original package is from '08), and got the runaround again. This time, the department I got the original information from said I would have to get a referral from one on my doctors at the rehab centre first. So, I was transferred to what I thought was the doctor's clinic, only it was the centre's main desk. From there, I was connected to the right clinic, but was told I would actually need to see the doctor herself to get a referral. Finally, I was transferred to my doctor's secretary who told me she'd look into getting me a referral.
So now I wait. And while I'm waiting, I'm starting to think it might be time to look at some other options. Maybe it's time to go a few steps above the service providers and talk to my alderman about what I can do, or maybe Ottawa's just too big and I need to look into a smaller city. Decisions, decisions.
Anyway, I've done pretty much all I can do for right now. Just hoping for the best.
