06/26/2020
FOB - Neighbors Helping Neighbors - Story of the Week!
When 90% of her co-workers were laid off during the early weeks of coronavirus, D was one of the few who kept her job—to her detriment, as it turns out. As a call center operator at a timeshare company, she quickly discovered no one was in the market for a vacation. Certainly not for the foreseeable future. In a recent week, D chalked up just one sale—five short of making commission. She made pennies on the dollar that week; nevertheless, the very fact that she was “employed” made her ineligible for unemployment benefits (which, when bolstered by the additional federal supplement, has meant that there is a huge difference in what she could be receiving in unemployment benefits). So D finds herself in a segment of the population that has seemingly fallen through the cracks—employed, but with hours or income cut so dramatically that their current income is but a sliver of what it once was. And certainly not one on which they can survive.
For D, this has been a mind-numbing change from her previous pace, when she made a comfortable income which allowed her to save, with the goal of ultimately putting a down payment on a house. Now, with her paychecks dipping so low, she has quickly drained her savings paying for the usual assortment of bills—rent, utilities, car, cell. Things have snowballed quickly. In April she found herself applying for food stamps, but was declined. Her stimulus check went straight to rent and power. In June, for the first time, she was unable to pay rent on time. Her cell phone is due to be shut off in July.
With her situation slipping out of control, D reached out to FOB. After determining that her most urgent needs were rent and power, FOB confirmed the overdue amounts and paid both bills, bringing her out of the red for these large-ticket items.
The mercurial and mysterious behavior of the coronavirus has meant that life has not been able to return to a normal—or even predictable—pace. This, in turn, means that stories like D’s will continue to pour in. In fact, we are already beginning to see an uptick in requests. We would be honored if you would continue to link arms with us to serve those in our community seeking assistance. After all, it is because of donors and volunteers like you—and your generous donations, services, prayers, and engagement—that individuals like D can experience not only the gift of assistance, but also the gift of hope.
