Knowing when

My friend lives with me because I need help sometimes, especially at night. Suddenly food stamps are discontinued even though my friend has $0. He is a marine and is afraid of being blackballed. How can he refuse to advocate- that's just not me. I was sent the wrong wheelchair in 2014, I have since quit using it and requesting a new one a few months early. I'm in the process of organizing documents and old files from 3 different places so I can prove my request. I was told that my insurance does make exceptions and with my careful, continuous, accurate work to justify my request I should win. It is hard to know when to advocate and when not to advocate. Professionals can be subjective with their decisions and if challenged they can make things worse. However, I can't imagine not trying and just giving in. I have alienated decision makers because I proved them to be wrong. I keep winning yet they keep trying because so many of them underestimate consumers. Empowerment is hard to achieve when people count on remaining among the "haves" and keeping the "have-nots" low.