| Modest Needs: Charity for Personal Emergencies |
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Charity Spotlight
First, donate money to get "points." Then, browse through people's requests for assistance. You can even search to find people in your area. Dole out your points to whomever you want. Once enough people designate enough points to fill someone's need, Modest Needs cuts the person a check. Applicants live above the poverty line and so are not eligible for much traditional assistance. One of the most common requests is for help with medical bills, says Chief Operating Officer Huriya Jabbar. "In general, health-related costs are one of the more difficult expenditures to predict and budget for, as the scope and size of these bills can vary and quickly exceed a household's monthly budget." Most commonly, Huriya says, medical-related requests are for "unexpected but necessary procedures or sudden illness"--often single parents asking for help for their children's sickness. But, he says, other recent requests have included "a chair lift for a disabled woman so that she did not have to rely on her family to use the restroom, a wig for a chemotherapy patient, a sunhat for a woman suffering from skin cancer ... and a vet bill for a seeing-eye dog."
Last updated and/or approved: August 2010. Original article appeared in January/February 2009 former print magazine. Bio current as of that issue. This health-care information is not meant as individual advice. Please see our disclaimer.  Comments (9)
  written by James Hubbard, M.D. , May 21, 2012 I'm sorry for your dilemma. My suggestion would be to call the hospital, tell them the situation and ask who they should talk to. If they can't give you a name, ask to talk to someone in social services. One possibility is applying for state Medicaid. James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H. Publisher, MyFamilyDoctorMag.com and TheSurvivalDoctor.com report abuse
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 written by Paul Addison , May 15, 2012 Hi I am in the UK and just gotten back into work etc am trying to save for my wifes visa to come back as stay which is hard enough but my wife came over here 1st of November 2011 for 6 months returning to Tiffin, Ohio, 44883 on the 30th of April 2012 before she left to come to the UK she was supposedly diagnosed with Pluresy and paid nice heffty medical bills for this INCORRECT DIAGNOSIS FROM TIFFIN MERCY HOSPITAL, to date in the UK she was given limited treatment in the UK at my local Accident and Emergency Department where they did a ultra sound scan and confirmed she has multiple gallstones most in excess of 10 milimetres each, she could not get surgery here either as we did not have this money we did not charge for the treatment through A&E but to be admitted and given surgery would of been around £3000, she needs basically keyhole surgery to remove the gallbladder as this is now causing her liver to slowly shutdown on her, liver enzymes are well up and she has now been suffering incredible and dibilitating pain for 9 months and so has no chance to find work in this condition but all the hospitals including the hospital in detroit michigan she was taken too from the plane when she returned have neglected to give her any treatment as she can not afford to pay for it and neither can I afford to from here in the UK please please can anyone find someone to help as tonight she again went to St Vees in Toledo who had agreed as a teaching hospital they would do it free as she would be operated on by interns but when she arrived tonight they renegged and turned her away yet again even though at considerable gas cost they had traveled all the way from Tiffin to attend their ER please please I am at the end of my rope we just been married over a year now and I can not lose my wife due to this neglect from liver failure which will be the end result I know this as I am a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician in the UK, my email is [DELETED]@hotmail.com and my wifes to send any helpful info too is [DELETED]@hotmail.com thank you all Editor's note: Email addresses were removed, per our comments policy. report abuse
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 written by Michael Firstman@ Mig Welders , November 10, 2010 I wonder why car repair is given as an example of the needs in this type of charity. I mean medical bills and even heating, sure. But who dares say that they will suffer and die if their cars aren't working properly?! It's absurd really. report abuse
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 written by Leigh Ann , October 05, 2010 Hi, Sadie. I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. To request help from Modest Needs, you'd need to go straight to them. Please go to the following site and click on "Apply for Help" (one of the links on the orange bar near the top): http://www.modestneeds.org/ Best of luck, Leigh Ann Otte Managing Editor My Family Doctor report abuse
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 written by SADIE BENNETT , October 04, 2010 MY NAME IS SADIE BENNETT. I LIVE IN COLUMBUS OHIO. I WAS ON THE BUDGET FOR 100 DOLLARS A MONTH. I ONLY PAID 75 DOLLARS. MY GAS WAS TURN OFF. NOW I AM THE GUARDIAN OF A 8 MONTH LITTLE GIRL,HER MOTHER WAS HOMELESS SO I GAVE THAN A HOME.THE HELP SHE ABOUT TO GET IS ENOUGH FOR THEN.MY GAS BILL IS I400 DOLLARS I COULD GET HALF IF I HAD HELP I COULD HAVE IT ON BEFORE NOV IS HERE. THE GUARDIAN SADIE BENNETT report abuse
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written by Leigh Ann Otte , March 30, 2010 Hello, Audrey. I'm sorry to hear about your friend. If you'd like to ask Modest Needs for help, please visit their site, www.modestneeds.org. We're an informational site, not the charity organization. I had to remove your friend's mailing address due to privacy concerns. I appreciate your wanting to help him. I hope you can find what you need through Modest Needs or another organization. Also, my previous comment to Sandra might be of use to you. (See below: "Re: Help for someone who needs surgery or they will die.") Best wishes, Leigh Ann Otte Managing Editor www.MyFamilyDoctorMag.com report abuse
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 written by `Audrey Hupp , March 29, 2010 Robert Hoffman has diabetes, Lung Liver desease and has asthma and is the Father of 3 young children. His wife has a partime job at min. wage. He is on 24 hour a day oxygen. Totally disabled. He is in dire need of a wheel chair. He has no phone and some utilities are off. Rent is due also. He is located at the following *[address removed by editor]* PLEASE HEL report abuse
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written by Leigh Ann Otte , March 10, 2010 I'm sorry to hear about your neighbor, Sandra. What a terrible situation. Your comment prompted me to post an article we had previously published only in print. It has tips for what to do when you have no insurance. Since your friend already has Medicaid, tip number one won't help, but the rest might. http://familydoctormag.com/doctors-office/1367-dont-have-medical-insurance-heres-what-to-do.html Also, here is a CNN article on the topic. Their step number one might help. http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/12/ep.health.insurance.help/index.html We'd suggest that she talk with her doctor and hospital about her situation. They may know of resources, including nonprofits. In addition, she can search online to see if there is a nonprofit dedicated to her disease or to a category that includes her disease. I wish you and your friend the very best. She is lucky to have such a caring person in her corner. Leigh Ann Otte Managing Editor report abuse
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 written by sandra maddox , March 10, 2010 My neighbor is in need of surgery . she is disabled for several years . She has medicaid which will pay for some of the procedure. However it will not pay all. the Hospital requires a $1,000.00 dollar deposit before it will proceed . She lives on a small SSI income .She has 1 child still at home and a disabled husband.The surgery she needs is considered experimental therefore medicaid won't pay for it ( I understand this). Her stomach doesn't digest food and she needs a pacemaker for her stomach. She weighed 300lbs now she barely weighs 100lbs .They say if she doesn't have this surgery she will die of starvation. I don't know how to start a fund to accept donations from the public for her,the information I have found states that you need a start up fee and I am living on social security and have no money to do that.So my second Idea is to find an exsisting nonprofit to help her.Can you help me with Ideas or information. I can provide details and proof of this when needed. report abuse
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