This may horrify people.
My confession :
I didn't qualify for anything when my ex husband left me, or vice versa. it doesn't matter anymore. I had to do things on the extreme cheap side. A babysitting or cleaning job for $20 was a blessing.
I DID CLOTH DIAPERS.

I would dunk them in a toilet and put them in a trash bin for future washing. I did this while single moms were screaming for Pampers and Huggies.
FYI I did carry some for people who couldn't handle sh!t.

I did it.
I had the cleanest toilet in Taos, NM and Newhall, CA.
I also have the worst looking hands in the nation.
I did it so that my daughters could eat.

WAre electric bill was $20 a month. I didn't qualify to get help.
We only had one light on in the evening. We did have a refrigerator and I was hoping I could get rid of it.
I didn't have $20 for a bill. I didn't.

My daughters and I had to bath in the same bath water that was cold. I couldn't afford gas to heat our water or our house.

People in early 2000's though I was crazy. I applied for everything. I was ashamed, but inside I was glad I was denied.

I took my kids to the Lis Angeles County clinic to have their shots updated.

Their school and teachers would constantly send me info to get help.
I was either denied or mocked at by the County of Los Angeles Health Department.

"What do bv you mean your husband refuses to give you child support ?"

I couldn't afford an attorney. I couldn't afford gas in my car, registration or insurance.
There were times I drove the car in emergencies and to my first job in Palmdale, CA.
I'm still there.

Before my job, I couldn't cash a check from my parents or anyone.
My parents had a bank in NM, and I'm in California. @adamcarolla .
I'm tagging you to answer part of your question to Newsom a few years ago.

I had to have a second ID. I was advised by banks I had to have a credit card.
Obviously, I didn't have one.

My parents and peeps had to pay me in cash.
I really felt Ivwas a second class citizen.
A friend of mine at that time, who was illegal was asking me why I couldn't get help. The same with my husband who left me. It was a conspiracy.

My friend only had to give her child's father's SS#. That was it she told me. My ex, husband at that time, couldn't either since his friends ladies did that.
I didn't. I filled out the proper forms to the best of knowledge. It was a mistake. Perhaps a blessing.

For a year and a half, I filled out applications and faxed them from my mother in laws house. This was back in 2001-2002. About a year and a half, which seemed like an eternity.

I didn't have health insurance, and I became sick with bronchitis. I thought I was so serious that I might be hospitalized.

I reached out to one of our clinics out in Palmdale. I took a risk. A doctor examined me and suspended pneumonia.
I had an X-ray. No pneumonia, but bronchitis. My mom sent cash and I was able to prescriptions later.

I recovered.

I wish I could put my whole ordeal in a tweet.
Too much.

You can imagine what my girls and I ate.
I would only eat my kids leftovers. I found out that me oldest daughter would eat a little, tell me that she was full...so that I could eat a little.

In the fall of 2002, I finally got a call from an employer.
My skills at that time, were very rusty.
I landed a job.

I was dating my future husband at that time. He watched over my girls and set them up for camp.
Our school system had kids being in different groups. They attended local camp at that time. I was hired 12/22 , I think?

My bosses, before I received my first paycheck, gave me a $25 Christmas bonus. I was able to get my girls something for Christmas!

There were good things and dastardly things that have happened between then and now.
I married my then boyfriend. He's still my husband. My daughters grew up being very strong women.
I survived. I forgot...

How I was able to get a bank account without a credit card as a second ID. Paycheck. @adamcarolla