Outside of like 3 states, you're pretty much fucked if you want any kind of government assistance, and even then it's dogshit and not enough to survive on. Years ago, I made $8hr and lived in a tiny apartment with rent I could barely afford, a bunch of bills from having to put things on credit to survive, and was only able to eat because of the food I stole from work. I applied for food stamps and was denied because they said, "It looks like at the end of the month you have around $20 left. That should be plenty. Here's a list of churches and food banks, and you're welcome to reapply again in a few years."

Oh yeah, also knew this guy that lived below my apartment that was on disability. He was a retired vet that broke his back from a grenade or some shit (his words) and would wake me up screaming at midnight from ptsd and come knock on my door asking for alcohol. Dude only got $1000 a month from the government and if he worked at all he'd lose his disability, so he had to do odd jobs under the table to make it, despite not being able to be on his feet for longer than a few hours.