My dad is a retired senior citizen and he collects social security benefits. That is his only source of income. He tries pretty hard to save money but the money just is not enough for him to survive on. He applied to several government funded programs like housing assistance and the food stamp program. One day he was complaining to me about how much his cell phone bill cost. He pays nearly 50 dollars a month. Although I think that 50 dollars a month is pretty low for cell phone service, it is eating up much of his budget. I wanted to help him out so I started looking online for an even cheaper cell phone service plan.
After much searching, I found out that my dad could apply for free cell phones for senior citizens. This is another government funded program that helps low income people have a cell phone. Through this program, people should be able to get a free cell phone with free minutes. I was able to find one company called Safelink Wireless that gives 250 free minutes per month. That would be enough minutes to make a few calls to family and friends and also to handle personal business. There are also some other companies like Assurance Wireless or Reachout Wireless. Because my dad was already receiving food stamps, all he had to do was send documents to Safelink proving that he received food stamps. Then he was able to get free phones for seniors. If someone was not getting government assistance then they would probably need to provide information on their income and assets in order to qualify for the free phone.
I am glad there are government assistance programs like this one. Without such a program, I would have no idea how my dad would be able to pay for phone service. This program allows me to keep in touch with him and I don’t have to worry too much because he is only a phone call away.
