smitasamm needs help

by Guest Mon Oct 31, 2011 3:38 am

http://forums.sulekha.com/forums/coffeehouse/worst-diwali-ever-1126860.htm

smita has been abruptly cut off from the govt's financial assistance to the sick/disabled in the UK. she was dependant on this aid for subsistence. the only thing the govt. is giving her now are food vouchers which can be used to pick up food donated by others at specific outlets. on the bright side, she has a roof over heads and does not have to worry about rent. she needs financial help. of course, no one can help her indefinitely, but, because the cut off was abrupt, she needs some time to find other means. the immediate challenge is to help her survive the winter. one step at a time. aravind swami has kindly agreed to coordinate by acting as a via media between us and smita. he is already in touch with smita over email. nutmeg and i have volunteered to help smita financially. if anyone else wants to help, kindly respond in this thread and aravind swami will contact you (either in this thread or over pm). i am reproducing parts of aravind's sulekha note to me (it is nothing confidential) and my response for i cannot reply to him there:

aravind swamy wrote:I have been thinking of the most efficient way to help Smita. It looks like paying a couple of her big bills with a credit card would help her tide over the winter. If we could do that, we don't have to worry about the mechanics of sending funds, etc. She mentioned something about an oil bill (for heating), electricity and phone/Internet bills being the big ones. I have requested her to check if those can be paid using a credit card, preferably online.

that is very feasible! i could use my credit cards to pay her bills online! let me know if this is possible for smita.

Do you think anybody on the new forum might want to contribute also? Would you please check with them?

i will start a thread on the other forum and request you to register there. we can carry on the conversation in the other forum 'cos i don't have faith in notes here.

by Guest Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:47 am

which city/town is she in?

by Guest Mon Oct 31, 2011 8:46 am

good work hk. hope she finds help/job soon.

by Bittu Mon Oct 31, 2011 9:00 am

what exactly is smitasamm sick or disabled with?

by chameli Mon Oct 31, 2011 2:38 pm

ALL I am hearing is "lets help smita

smita needs help"

But I dont see her address what exactly has happened or which bank to send money to

We need more details

Who is Aravind swamy ?

There are enough Indians around where she lives who should help

by Guest Tue Nov 01, 2011 12:47 am

AS, we have one more member willing to help.

by Guest Tue Nov 01, 2011 2:10 am

Other ways you can help:-

1. If you have friends/family in the UK who are familiar with how the government works and/or the law works, please post advice on how she can deal with the government situation.

by Guest Tue Nov 01, 2011 7:02 am

OK. AS, i have found a hassle free way of helping her. rest of you can go the credit card route (if it works for smita). please concretize a plan fast. if the help she needs is not big, then we can consider helping her in two tranches. maybe 2 guys help now and 2 later. we have options now -- please evaluate.

by Saathiya Tue Nov 01, 2011 9:10 am

nutmeg wrote:Other ways you can help:-

1. If you have friends/family in the UK who are familiar with how the government works and/or the law works, please post advice on how she can deal with the government situation.

Nutmeg, these laws have recently changed. Benefits system is a complicated system, most people don't know about them unless they are receiving similar benefits or involved in some other way. Also, to be able to advice, one needs to know many of her personal details, which she is not comfy providing. She is already in touch with authorities, and if there is anything they can do for her, they will definitely advice her.

HK, I was wondering how are you guys going to help her unless you know her account numbers etc. I am not sure, but paypal might be an option.

by Guest Tue Nov 01, 2011 9:29 am

Saathiya wrote:HK, I was wondering how are you guys going to help her unless you know her account numbers etc. I am not sure, but paypal might be an option.

good point. right now we are exploring ways to pay her bills online -- for that ac no. is not required. if it is required at some stage, of course, she will have to provide it. AS is the guy in touch with her but for some reasons he is absent since yesterday. i just responded to smita in sulekha asking for her ph. no. so that i can contact her directly. as for paypal -- doesn't it take a month to get an account running there? they debit $1 from your card and then ask you to type a confirmation number that will appear (a month later) against the transaction in your cc bill!

by Guest Tue Nov 01, 2011 9:52 am

sorry I am not able to help. but carry on. if something comes out where I find a way, I definitely will.

by Guest Tue Nov 01, 2011 11:23 am

Saathiya wrote:
nutmeg wrote:Other ways you can help:-

1. If you have friends/family in the UK who are familiar with how the government works and/or the law works, please post advice on how she can deal with the government situation.

Nutmeg, these laws have recently changed. Benefits system is a complicated system, most people don't know about them unless they are receiving similar benefits or involved in some other way. Also, to be able to advice, one needs to know many of her personal details, which she is not comfy providing. She is already in touch with authorities, and if there is anything they can do for her, they will definitely advice her.

.

The note was for people who might know or know people who might know. If you don't, then take it easy. It really is not necessary to know everything to post information that one knows or provide generic advice. This is not the first time such a situation has arisen and an internet community has reacted.

by charvaka Wed Nov 02, 2011 12:36 am

Huzefa Kapasi wrote:as for paypal -- doesn't it take a month to get an account running there? they debit $1 from your card and then ask you to type a confirmation number that will appear (a month later) against the transaction in your cc bill!

I don't think so. AFAIK, you can receive money within a couple of days of opening an account and adding your bank account details to your paypal account. They just make a deposit of $0.02 or something into your account to verify that it goes through, and that's that. After that, she just needs to disclose her paypal email address to people who want to help. Anybody who wants to help can simply send money using paypal (via credit cards, their own bank accounts, etc.) instantly. Neither party needs to share their financial or contact details (beyond email address) with the other party.

by A S Wed Nov 02, 2011 2:41 am

Those of you who want to help Smita, please send me a personal message and let me know if you are a US Paypal user. If yes and you are okay with consolidating our contributions, you could Paypal the funds to me. I will get all the funds together and help Smita pay a bill or two with a credit card. I am already in email communication with her to do so and she is okay with this method. I personally don't prefer sending money to her by Paypal to avoid international transaction fees.

by Guest Wed Nov 02, 2011 3:04 am

AS, check PM. i am in chat for an hour -- join if you are free.

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