SSI

Hi Peter,

From the research I've done re: SSDI, all benefits are availalbe here in the USVI. There is a Social Security office on St. Croix, and when I get a chance I plan to go in and verify this.

As far as the "cheapest" island on which to live, St. Croix is generally agreed upon as the most affordable. But remember that affordable does not mean cheap! The cost of living here is high, so unless you currently live in Washington DC or New York or Los Angeles, you will likely end up paying a bit more for everything from rent to food. You can get an idea about prices by reading the Cost of Living section of the web site [ http://vimovingcenter.com/cost_of_living/ ]

Other things to consider, depending on what type of disability you have:

Make sure that the local health care system on island can handle your medical needs. There is a hospital on St. Croix and St. Thomas, but they both are more like small, rural hospitals on the mainland in that they have a limited number of specialists on staff. I have had a very hard time finding doctors here. There is one pain management doctor here, but he refused to take me on as a client because he wasn't interested in providing theservices I need -- as did two general practitioners. I've been tolkd there is a neeurologist, but he seems to spenmjd a great deal of time off island. The mental health system here also faces challenges. If you can't get the care you need here, you'll need to travel to Puerto Rico to find the specialists or services you need. It's cost me $160 to fly round trip to PR every other month, and those costs add up quickly. You can purchase air evacuation insurance, which in case of a medcal emergency will fly you to Puerto Rico, but it can only be used for emergencies and not for routine care, and you are limited to two flights per year. The cost is about $120 a year for one person, but be careful as they will refuse to cover people with specific pre-existing conditions.

Accessibility can also be a challenge. I have yet to see any braille signage, and the number of buildings with access ramps, wide doorways, etc. is limited. The availability of curb cuts in downtown Christiansted is hit and miss -- there are several intersections where you can get off one sidewalk only to find that there is no curb cut on any of the other corners. The sidewalks present their own challenges -- because the landscape is a bit hilly, sidewalks tend to be multi level, so you might find that you reach a place in the middle of a block where you must take a step up or down in order to continue. St. Thomas has a paratransit service that I am told is very reliable and affordable, but there is no paratransit service on St. Croix. If you live on St. Croix and can't use the $2 taxis (which are regular size vans), you will need your own car to get around. Sorry that I can't help out with info about accessible apartments or condos -- we bought our home and are waiting to start remodeling to make it accessible by adding a roll in shower, ramps to the porches, grab bars, etc. Oh -- one more thing: I have yet to find a check out line in any grocery store that is wide enough for my wheelchair.

So sorry if this came off as negative -- it wasn't intended to discourage you from pursuing a dream of living here. I just wanted to give you a sense of the realities of being disabled in the Virgin Islands. I have been here for about three months now, and absolutely love it, even though I stilol haven't figured out a way to get in the water and snorkel (mostly because I can't figure out a way to get out of the water and back into my chair). I have to say that I could not have moved here alone -- my husband is the only means to accomplishing a lot of things that need doing.

If you read more about the islands and are still interested in moving here, I strongly recommebnd that you purchase the Settler's Handbook, which you can buy through this web site), and then plan on making a visit down here to check it out in person before you move.

Hope this was helpful! It was a good opportunity for me to finally jot down most of the observations I've made since moving here. Am hoping to convince somwone to include them in upcoming editions of the Handbook.

Good luck!

HipCrip

Thank you for all the information, it is very helpful. I am not in a wheel chair .My back is the problem (25yrs.). I would love to live there. I think daily walking and swimming would help me very much. Do you have any idea how I might find out how much disability is paid there? Thank you, you've been so very kind, Peter

HC, are you familiar with these special chairs a local resident made that allows wheelchair-bound people to go into the ocean? His name is Howard Fishbein, he heads this non-profit organization called "Project HELP", and that was one of his inventions. I can give you a phone number when I wake up tomorrow, I am really tired now.

Peter,

You're definitely on to something re: daily swimming and walking. We moved down here because I, too, get so much better when I can get into the water a lot, and because the temperatures are warm and consistent. My body flips out when temperatures drop more than 10-15 degrees a day, and when it's below 40. (Don't even ask what happens if both of those things happen at once!)

I would either talk to someone at your local SSI office about what the change in location would mean in terms of benefits, and what process you'd need to follow in order to get your payments made from down here. Knowing the efficiency of those folks as we do, it's not hard to imagine that you might want to get started on that paperwork now so that everything is ready by the time you actually want to move.

If that doesn't work out, my next step would be to call the SSI office down here. The phone number on St. Croix is 800-772-1213.

Finally, there is a Center for Independent Living here, too (The VI Associaition for Independent Living). The folks at CILs usually know lots of ways to get such info and exactly who to talk to. Their number is 340-778-7992.

Plkease let us know what you find out -- I'm very interested to hear if it's a straight transfer with no loss of benefits or not.

Good luck!

HC

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Dominic,

You are the man!! So glad to see you're back with us. Have really missed your posts but assumed you were heading off to campus and would find your way back here eventually.

Would love to get the contact info for Mr. Fishbein and see what he's got to offer. I am very familiar with some types of beach wheelchairs -- we used them in Florida many times and we rented one for the entire time we spent on Kauai. That is definitely the ultimate answer to getting in and out of the water -- and to getting to the restroom, back to the car, walking the beach, etc.

What's prevented me from buying one for use down here (besides the $2700-$3000 price tag, excluding shipping) is the size of those monsters. The one we had in Hawaii had a rigid frame that supported a seat that was more like a chaise lounge than a chair, plus 3' diameter balloon tires in the rear. Even after breaking it down, it still occupied most of the cargo area in a full size SUV. Remember that I still need to take my regular chair with me too. We managed to get both chairs into that SUV eventually.

Here's the rub: I don't have an SUV, can't afford to buy one, and really don't like them to boot. I've also lost so much use of my legs since then that I don't think I can transfer up to such a high cab any more. There's just room to fit my regular chair in the back seat of our current car -- the trunk is no where big enough to hold any of the beach chairs I'd seen before. I did just see that Landeez has a newer model that breaks down enough to fit into a large duffel bag that looks like it would fit in our trunk with room to spare and will invesitigate it further. Only thing I don't like about it is that it isn't self-propelled. (I have little patience for having to rely on others to angle my chair every time I want to look in a different direction, etc.)

My dream is that your Mr. Fishbein's design is more compact, self propelled, more affordable, and available right away. Not demanding at all, am i? *LOL*

Thanks so much for the offer to put me in touch with him. You remain one of my favorite folks here on the board, and for far more reasons than this.

HC

The number is 773-8190. Hopefully he would have what you're looking for.