Jan Yager - Help Yourself Now: A Practical Guide to Finding the Information and Assistance You Need

Copyright 2021 by Jan Yager

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Yager, Jan, 1948- author.

Title: Help yourself now: a practical guide to finding the information and assistance you need / Jan Yager.

Description: New York: Allworth Press, [2019]

Identifiers: LCCN 2018056781 (print) | LCCN 2019002098 (ebook) | ISBN 9781621536314 (ebook) | ISBN 9781621536307 (pbk.: alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Social serviceDirectories. | Human servicesDirectories. | Consumer protectionDirectories. | Legal aid societiesDirectories. | Family life educationDirectories.

Classification: LCC HV41 (ebook) | LCC HV41 .Y38 2019 (print) | DDC 361.0025/73dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018056781

Print ISBN: 978-1-62153-630-7

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62153-631-4

Printed in the United States of America

This book is dedicated to my wonderful family and devoted friends as well as to everyone who needs or offers help.

Disclaimer

This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author and is designed to provide useful advice and general information regarding the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering financial, relationship, legal, psychological, business, medical, or other professional services in this publication. Laws vary from state to state and country to country, and if the reader requires expert assistance or financial, medical, or legal advice, a competent professional should be consulted. Companies, agencies, associations, street or website addresses, or apps may change or even become defunct overnight. The accuracy of any entries in this book, unfortunately, cannot be guaranteed.

The publisher and the author disclaim any liability to any person, organization, or agency for any loss or damage caused by omissions or errors in Help Yourself Now, whether such omissions or errors result from accident, negligence, or any other cause. All names, street or website or email addresses, descriptions, phone numbers, titles, and prices are subject to change.

Contents

Introduction: A Guide to Getting Help

We all need help with something. It can be anything from finding a lawyer who specializes in whatever issue youre facing or a doctor who treats whatever illness you think you have, to funding a new business, to dealing with a bully, to overcoming an addiction, to finding a romantic partner or even a new friend.

Where do you usually go for help? Your family, friends, the internet, Google? The problem with Google and the internet is that theres too much information and too many choices. Plus, many of those choices are made for you by advertisers who may fill your first page of results with entries that have been paid for but might not be right for you.

Help Yourself Now cuts through the information clutter by giving you a manageable place to start. I should know. Ive been researching where to get help for more than four decades, beginning with my eight-page article and directory, Help! How to Cope with It All, in the October 1977 issue of Redbook magazine followed by The Help Book, published in 1979.

Help Yourself Now covers getting help in thirty areas, from Addiction to Volunteerism, with dozens of issues and concerns in between. For example, , Crime: Victims, Witnesses, and Prevention covers multiple issues such as domestic violence, sexual assault and rape, sexual harassment, stalking, homicide, property crime victimization including cyber-crime, as well as being a crime witness and crime prevention.

Whether youre a veteran having problems with depression or PTSD or a parent who is wondering how youre going to pay for your teens college education, there is help available, if you know how and where to look and also how to ask for it.

The most important piece of advice I have is: do not give up if the first person you ask, whether an employee at a private company or a government worker at a local, state, or federal agency, says no, or their answers are incomplete or questionable. Keep on asking. Ask at the same agency or company, or if you exhaust all the possibilities at those organizations, keep looking and start over seeking help at new ones.

So much happened to the United States and around the world in the three years that I spent researching, and writing, Help Yourself Now. Beginning in December 2019 in China, followed by Europe, and then in the United States from March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic led to more than 1.5 million deaths globally as of December 2020 with more than 300,000 deaths in the US. But vaccines became available beginning on December 8, 2020 in the UK and soon afterwards in the US.

In the United States, most were in shock and disbelief that in just seven months since announcing on October 4, 2019, that America had its lowest unemployment in fifty years could there could be thirty million seeking unemployment benefits. Those who were either still employed, running businesses that were able to continue to operate despite the shutdowns, as well as those who had emergency funds or savings to see them through these tough periods, did better than those living paycheck to paycheck.

Americans found themselves standing in a line in person, six feet away from the person in front of them, or driving through in their cars, at local food banks to get enough to eat after their sudden job loss. Some moved in with friends or relatives to save on rent or if they thought other less-populated areas might be safer. Stimulus checks helped many but so many still needed assistance feeding themselves and their families. The government business loans helped those businesses who met the requirements which included employing below a certain number of workers and keeping those workers on the payroll rather than laying them off.

One of the many lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the importance of knowing what local and even statewide or national resources are available if you and your loved ones need food, or other essential services. If you are in a bountiful situation now, consider donating money or your time to organizations that are feeding the hungry, such as Feeding America, to your community food bank, such as Connecticut Food Bank, or to a local food program for seniors, such as Meals on Wheels. Whether in New York City; Peoria, Illinois; Rome, Italy; or Kolkata, India, no child or adult should have to be undernourished or go hungry.