PP 247: Asking for Assistance Does Not Make You Weak

Kim Sutton Welcome to the positive productivity podcast Episode 247. The Positive Productivity Podcast was created to empower entrepreneurs to achieve and appreciate personal and professional success. I’m your host, Kim Sutton. And if you’re ready, let’s jump into today’s episode. Welcome back to another episode of Positive Productivity. As you know, in all the episodes, I’m very transparent. In this episode is going to be no different. The title of this episode is Asking for Assistance Does Not Make You Weak. And before we even jump in, I want to make the point of telling you that when I say asking for assistance, I don’t just mean from the people you know and the people directly around you. I don’t just mean hiring support, I don’t mean hiring coaches. But I’m taking this today to an even higher level. When I left my ex-husband in December of 2010, I was unemployed. However, I knew it was something that I had to do for my mental well-being as well as for the safety of me and my children. I was concerned about how we were going to get by but I had found an apartment in a rent-controlled apartment complex. And I knew I had to take the opportunity. If you haven’t listened to any previous episodes, I do want you to know that my ex has changed. And although we are definitely not friends, his relationship with my children, and also with myself has improved over the years. Now going back to the topic of asking for assistance, I knew that in order to survive and to thrive, I had to go to the local public assistance office and get some support until I could find the job. And that is just what I did. In December of 2010, I qualified for not only food assistance, but also health and cash assistance. In America, there is a stigma that seems to be attached to people who are on public assistance and it is so unfortunately unfair. I have heard so many times that people who are on welfare get food stamps are lazy, they’re not working hard, and a whole lot of other nonsense. And I can tell you that, in my case, at least, and in so many other people’s cases that I know, there are very hard workers who unfortunately just can’t make ends meet and have to ask for assistance from the state. If you’re out of the country, I don’t know what type of support systems you may have. But I know in my area of Ohio, as well as in many other areas of the United States, there are similar public assistance programs. In January of 2011, I was able to secure a job and I also started receiving child support, so my benefits were slashed quite a bit. However, I did continue to receive benefits until I got a new job and I no longer qualified.

Fast forward a few years, however, I had remarried. And Dave and I were expecting our first daughter, Neveah. He had lost his job and had returned to school and we were relying on my income as an Administrative Assistant as well as my child support in order to get by. Well, I can tell you for a fact that this was not cutting it. And although we really wanted to be able to support ourselves, we once again had to ask for assistance. Listeners, if you find yourself in a situation where you are just not making ends meet, I want you to swallow your pride and go out and ask for assistance from the people who can support you. Over the last seven years we have found ourselves on several different occasions at the food pantry, just so that we were able to feed our family. There was one occasion just after an Neveah was born, that I remember holding her at the food pantry and crying because I was so grateful. All throughout the pregnancy, as well as, 10 days after giving birth in Neveah, I was working as hard as possible to make ends meet and it just wasn’t happening. So there came that point where we just needed to suck it up and go in. There’s nothing to be ashamed of when you ask for support, when you ask for assistance. I don’t want to see anybody suffering when you don’t have to needlessly. If you live in Ohio, I can tell you firsthand that there are a variety of programs that can help you out. There’s food assistance and cash assistance, childcare assistance and medical assistance. And depending on where you live, you might be able to find the same type of assistance in your area as well. And these types of assistances, is that a word, don’t only qualify for the unemployed, or by the full time employed by an employer other than yourself. Even if you are self-employed, all you have to do is provide records of your income and you may qualify. If you have any questions about this process, please don’t hesitate to visit the show notes page at thekimsutton.com/pp247. I can’t guarantee that I will be able to help you in whatever state you’re in. But even if it’s just to ask for a little bit of confidence while you’re going through the process, I will be happy to help you in whatever way I can. Remember, life is a journey and there’s no reason why we need to go through this journey alone. I have been there and I understand what it feels like when we’re doing all that we can and we’re just not making ends meet. Now with all this said, go for it and make it a positive and productive day.

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