I am getting really frustrated. I know that I really need help for various issues yet I can't get help because I don't have the money to afford it and don't have insurance. I have called around to places that advertise sliding scales but they are all saying that they don't have room for any more sliding scale clients.

I have also tried calling the community mental health center but they won't take anybody who isn't on Medicaid and I've been told I don't qualify for Medicaid because I'm able to work so I'm not disabled and I don't have a child. The thought has crossed my mind to get pregnant, so that I can get on Medicaid, get the help I need, save up to go to college and get a Chemical Dependency Counselor degree to get back on my feet. I really want a child anyway and my child would also give me somebody to cuddle with and who will love me unconditionally. I'd have Wic, Food stamps, and TaNF to assist in raising the child until I can get my degree and stand on my own two feet which would be three years from now (one year for treatment and two to get my degree).

Have any of you cut through the red tape and have any tips on doing it? It is beginning to seem like people don't think that us who are poor deserve to get help and they are just in it for the money. Chemical Dependency counselors start at over $20 an hour so as long as I have the bills paid I'll see clients who can't afford it for free. Thanks for letting me vent.