01/10/2024
Something to think about....
What if you were a single parent with a child . You work full time for $14.00 hr. You bring home roughly $800 .00 per paycheck (bi-weekly).
Your bills:
$1, 000 . 00 / rent
$150 .00 / electrical
$250 .00 / car payment
$150 .00 / car insurance
So letās do the math :
You bring home about
$1,600 .00 a month & your bills average about $1,550.00 (give or take).
Youāre making it, but barely.
This doesn't even include groceries, internet, cable, cell phone, etc .
(nor does it include child tax credit, or child support)
Now, itās a really cold December and you get a power bill for $600 .00
How do you pay that?
To put it simply , you donāt.
Because you canāt.
So your power gets shut off.
But you know what your lease says?
It says you get evicted if your utilities are terminated.
So now youāre in court crying to a judge who doesnāt care, & you have 10 days to get out.
Well youāre in luck, because you found somewhere with 3 days to spare & itās only $650.00 a month!
But to get in, you must pass a background & credit check. Which you canāt because you just got evicted.
Youāve never been a criminal, but even if you could pass it, youāre looking at $1300 to move in, after paying the deposit & first monthās rent.
Timeās up ....
Landlord shows up at 7am with the police & changed your locks.
So, now youāre living in your car with your 7 year old son & everything you need to get by.
You tried to get a storage unit, but you donāt have a billing address so they wonāt sell one to you. So you could only take what would fit in your backseat.
You pay to shower at local truck stops & eat whatever can be cooked in a gas station microwave.Someone sees you & your son living like this & calls C.P.S; guess what happens next ? ? ?
They remove your child from your care.
As if this isnāt devastating enough, you lose your job too. (Because āan employee losing their child reflects poorly on this company .ā)
So now, you apply for an apartment with the region where the waiting list is 3-7 years.
Then you go into Wal-Mart to put in an application.
When you get back to your car you see that your back window has been smashed & someone helped themselves to your belongings. Remember that it is December & really cold. Now you have damage to your only shelter.
You call your car insurance, who says your deductible is $1,000.00
~ AND ~ theyāre going to increase your monthly rate since youāre now
ā high risk .ā
You call the homeless shelter as a last resort & all their beds are full.
Iāll stop here .....
Because I think you get the point .
The people we work with everyday are these people .
WE ARE THESE PEOPLE .
We are all so close to homelessness & donāt even realize it .
All it takes is :
* one unexpected billš~
* one fender benderšš„š~
* one lay-off š~
* one house fire š š„ , etc.
Instead of talking trash about people who are poor , homeless , or need assistance , why donāt you try being grateful that youāre not in their shoes ...... YET !
This is about staying humble & being kind .
BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE ā¤
We Are All Struggling In Different Ways.. šš©
