Most of the resources listed below are for the greater Portland (OR) area. In the future, we’ll try to get more statewide/nationwide resources available.
  • Case Manager & Therapy Support
  • Lawyering Up
  • Government Programs
  • Online Resources
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State Disability General Assistance

The state disability general assistance fund thing has a 60 day decision time, so if you can get some documentation to take to them they might be able to get you going pretty quickly. They'll also help you file a federal disability claim. https://www.dhs.state.or.us/spd/tools/program/ga/wg1.htm​

Portland, Oregon Specific Organizations

 QUEST Center for Integrative Health has therapy and the WISH Pain Management program available, covered by OHP.
ASSIST: A friend of ours hooked up with ASSIST and highly highly recommends it. It’s an organization in Portland specifically for the purpose of helping homeless and super low income folks to apply for benefits, throughout the entire process. http://www.programassist.org
Outside In:
​Cascadia Behavioral Health:

Personal Tips

Q: If you don't have a social worker, I've seen some at Outside In and Cascadia Behavioral Health. Whenever I have panic attacks at OI they send in the social worker, but not sure if she can do referrals, but maybe worth asking? Cascadia hasn't been great for therapy, but they do have the social worker hook up. Sometimes you need to teach them what resources to look into, but they do have a certain power within the system to write letters and file forms.
Q: I was able to find a social worker and therapist who were willing to do phone sessions with me when I explained I was able to sometimes stay at places in Southern Oregon or camp out in the forest. It meant I didn't have to drive or find rides to Portland, but could still show that I was being a good sick person and sometimes the sessions were supportive.

Getting a Lawyer

Taking on a lawyer is probably the best move in the long run, but make sure to find a lawyer and paralegal group who you trust. It’s hard to find the “perfect” lawyer, but one who listens to you and respects you and your case is key. 

​If you do lawyer up, they take 25% of your backpay if you win, but they won't charge if you lose. Therefore, they are invested in you getting approved!
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Upon approval, SSA will take whatever lawyer fee you signed and agreed upon from one of your backpay chunks and give it directly to the lawyer. If SSA fails to do that and no lawyer fee was taken from your backpay, then you will have to pay your lawyer directly.

Our Personal Lawyers & Experiences With Our Lawyers

Q: Melissa Haggerty was my lawyer and she was so amazing. Super respectful of my pronouns and got the judge to not use gendered titles for me. This is her firm https://www.tcnf.legal/​
Ɣ: My lawyer, whom I reached out to after my second appeal (moving in to the ALJ hearing where I go before a judge) was Lisa Porter at JP Law in Lake Oswego. Her two paralegals were very kind - One of them was very caring, though a bit pushy in the “you need to be on meds to try and manage your mental health” when I first met her and shared my initial case. I was like, “You are not my doctor, hun.” But after some reflection I appreciated this, taking away the idea that having it in my case that I have tried to manage my issues with medications helps a lot, and nearly legitimizes any mental-health related disability. (I gathered SSA won’t take your case as super legit if you refuse medication, ie refuse “help.”) The other paralegal was so darling and sweet-natured, really calming to my nerves when I had to message her  or drop off my medical records, which she organized and collated. It was a small law set up, very intimate. The actual lawyer Lisa Porter was super compassionate, which was surprising. I hadn’t spoken with her at all until a month or so before my hearing date, which was a bit nerve-wracking to be honest, but we had a nice long hour or so briefing before the hearing at the court office and I was very pleased with her demeanor and aptitude. She respected my gender, queerness, and experience of disability. And she seemed to know what I should bring up/speak to and what I should leave out in terms of what the judge wanted to hear and what would help move things along quickly so I didn’t have to be in the hearing for too long (knowing it would be uncomfortable and traumatic). JP Law firm’s site: http://jplawpc.com​​

Lawyer Master List

For a list of Disability Lawyers, check out our Lawyer Master List! We're still in the process of filling out the list; if you have a lawyer rec, please fill out the survey so we can add them to our master list.

Vocational Rehab Programs

I wasn't able to do this, but someone suggested getting into a vocational rehab program and then working until a doctor orders you to stop. The state really likes that apparently. I guess it's like: you work, and then when you freak out and/or get sick, tons of folks are taking notes about it and voila, your experience is legitimate to the state. I think you might need a social worker referral for that one. Once you get disability, they want you to go through that program if you decide to try employment. If you end up working so much that you lose benefits, with Ticket to Work, they’ll turn your benefits back on without you reapplying if you end up being unable to do the job. http://www.oregon.gov/dhs/employment/VR/Pages/index.asp

General Assistance Fund (TANF)

General Assistance Fund: Aka TANF, temporary financial assistance. https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ofa/programs/tanf​

Websites

We've compiled a list of helpful websites, ones that many times we used as reference and for fact-checking for this website and for our Instagram posts.
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Here are links to a few Twitter and Instagram accounts (including ours!) that I find to be good resources for learning more about SSI, SSDI and Disability Benefits and Rights Legislation.

Twitter

Instagram