It's easy for those on the outside to judge another person's response to tragedy. Instead, we should try to do as Buddhists practice. That is, to approach all beings and situations with an "I do not know mind." That means we should have at least enough humility and compassion to admit that we haven't got a clue what this person has seen, lived through, felt, etc.

I noticed that the question referenced not a single tragedy, but personal TRAGEDIES – plural! And it is a simple fact that chronic stress, let alone stress caused by chronic tragedies can wear down the human spirit and drain our resources, even beyond repair. My heart goes out to this questioner, god bless you and keep you in the palm of his hand. This world can be terrorizing, our culture in particular seems to claim as sacred the idea that "when the going gets tough, the tough get going." blah blah blah. Well we all need support and help at times and it seems a shame that we are discouraged from "expecting" the help of others, but rather we are told to "do it our(your)selves."

Grantors are very careful to screen applications as to the veracity of their claims as well as the personal references of the individual applicant. So it's totally unnecessary to worry that some "lay-about" sponge is going to receive undeserved freebies while the rest of us hardworking (bitter, judgemental) responsible types carry all the weight. It doesn't happen that way.

Go to your public library and ask the reference librarian about a listing of available grants. Also look into non-profit agency grants to individuals. You are most likely to find very low to no interest loans from these types of agencies, so consider that. A combination of aid can best be coordinated by a "family resource advocate." Where I live there is a non profit called SCAYD which will meet with a family or individual and assess the various needs at hand. Once that is on the table the "family advocate" recommends the agencies best able to help. He or she works with the family throughout the application process and into their recovery.
Email me if you want SCAYD's number – they may have connections to something in your area.

Hang on my friend, this is still god's world so turn to Him in prayer often. I am sorry for your losses. Do guard your family from more trauma as best you can. It seems that the world thrives on suffering and it is sad to see how little kindness there can be at times. Remember to do as much as you can to assist those assisting you!

I only know what I have experianced, but that causes me to empathize with you. In our family we have lost a 16 y.o. son to suicide. After that initial tragedy many painful, on-going stressors came along: homelessness (we moved to a hotel the day of his "at home" death with just a couple hundred bucks to our name); job loss (after 17 years on the same job my boyfriend took a stress retirement); sudden unexpected and then chronic loss of income (we thought we had his retirement money, until his employer denied it. FIVE YEARS later they had to pay up); we were nearly murdered in a bloody, violent home invasion robbery two weeks after my boyfriend finally received his retirement funds (we were robbed of almost every penny we had waited and fought for – it was in our safe, waiting to be deposited in an escrow account. After five years of frank poverty WE LOST EVERY PENNY! GONE!); drug addiction (we both grew exhausted and began to grasp at any method to find even temporary pain relief. That intensified the unraveling of our lives beyond our wildest nightmares); on and on…it seems at times that chaos is all I can see for miles and miles in any direction. But I also know that God is on the throne and I, well, I am one of his children. And I believe he can still be glorified in me through all of this, and I'm going to try to find that way. Good luck to you and all of us. Take care. pfaith92020@yahoo.com

http://www.answers.com/topic/foster-care

http://www.michigan.gov/dhs/0,.....2;,00.html

http://www.aacap.org/page.ww?n.....r+Families

You also might go by your local foster care agency and ask these questions.

Good luck and thanks for caring!

Once you have a strong foundation in low-level OS and routing.. specific security concepts are taught and discussed in many places:
Sans.org / GIAC security certifications ** top notch**
Schneier.com **top notch – blogging and original writings**
Slashdot.org **top notch reporting of other stories- sometimes other users are elitist and snide
also, WhiteHatWorld.com.. 2600 magazine/online.. others.

SANS will provide you with classes where you can actually experiment with "live-fire" security and hacking exercises. They offer live and online /self-paced classes. Mentors for each class are available for help & advice, and when you finish, you get a piece of paper to show to employers / customers. If you really excel at these courses, you can work at getting certifications, upgrade to "gold" certification by doing some research papers, and even get a Master's Degree in security.

There are lots of 'hacking / security information' sites out there. There are only a few that I trust not to hack me while I try to learn. Sans is one – there are probably others.

If you don't like the class-type model, you can still read the free blogs from the SANS incident handlers.
Look around your area for entry-level IT security jobs, or take a different job where you could work up into a security job ( Federal jobs.. military contractors.. insurance companies.. stock & financial orgs.. ) . check for jobs at security solution companies – Sophos, Symantec, SonicWall.. other companies that offer firewalls, antivirus, etc.
Even work on open-source projects of the same type. You can create some credibility if you contribute to the community, and others will be inclined to help when they see you are serious about putting in the work.

Security is a popular – and sometimes very paranoid- field, so you won't be able to just walk in and volunteer at most decent companies. If they do let you in too easily – they probably just want to use you for what they can – then get rid of you.