wunda
11-01-2007, 02:05 PM
This week another family will join the increasing numbers of homeless in Sonoma County. He’s a blue-collar worker who was injured on the job in January, and has attempted to support his wife and three children (two who are special needs kids) on the meager wages that workers compensation provides. She is on the Dean’s list at Sonoma State, and should be graduating at the end of the year thanks to financial aid and school loans. They believe that her college degree will be their ticket out of poverty.
They have done everything possible to help themselves such as cut spending, seek assistance from local charities, food banks and government agencies. With the exception of the food bank, what they found were lots of no’s- no funding left, not poor enough by federal standards, not living in the area services are provided.
They’re living on $2400 a month in a rental home. They began paying their bills a bit late, including their rent. Unexpected bills were simply not in their budget, so when their old minivan’s transmission lost third gear, they just left it parked in their driveway and began using public transportation. Their landlord increasingly became impatient with late or missing rent payments, and will evict them because can’t pay up by the deadline.
Most readers would find this to be a sad story, and perhaps a few might consider how they could help this family. But afterwards, it is likely that they will go back to managing the details of their lives. We don’t have time to change the system. It’s all been rigged by the political elite right? Turning the page is what we do to cope, but it can’t take away gnawing feeling that someone should do something.
The knot in my stomach reminds me that this is happening to me, to my family. I am your neighbor. I sit next to you in class. I volunteer in this community. We don’t know each other, but our kids play together at the park. Please think about how many Sonoma County families live in poverty without assistance due to inadequate funding. Think about how wealthy our county and region is. What is happening to us can’t be avoided, but think about how you can help our community as we approach this holiday season.
They have done everything possible to help themselves such as cut spending, seek assistance from local charities, food banks and government agencies. With the exception of the food bank, what they found were lots of no’s- no funding left, not poor enough by federal standards, not living in the area services are provided.
They’re living on $2400 a month in a rental home. They began paying their bills a bit late, including their rent. Unexpected bills were simply not in their budget, so when their old minivan’s transmission lost third gear, they just left it parked in their driveway and began using public transportation. Their landlord increasingly became impatient with late or missing rent payments, and will evict them because can’t pay up by the deadline.
Most readers would find this to be a sad story, and perhaps a few might consider how they could help this family. But afterwards, it is likely that they will go back to managing the details of their lives. We don’t have time to change the system. It’s all been rigged by the political elite right? Turning the page is what we do to cope, but it can’t take away gnawing feeling that someone should do something.
The knot in my stomach reminds me that this is happening to me, to my family. I am your neighbor. I sit next to you in class. I volunteer in this community. We don’t know each other, but our kids play together at the park. Please think about how many Sonoma County families live in poverty without assistance due to inadequate funding. Think about how wealthy our county and region is. What is happening to us can’t be avoided, but think about how you can help our community as we approach this holiday season.