08/27/2026
All I ever seem to hear anymore are opinions. Not solutions.
Since the pandemic, mental health has become a growing concern here in North Dakota. Homelessness is rising. Families are struggling. And while the cost of nearly everything has gone up—rent, groceries, gas, utilities—North Dakota's minimum wage is still $7.25 an hour.
Think about that.
I work with families who are working two, three, sometimes four jobs just trying to pay rent, put food on the table and keep their heads above water. These aren't people who don't want to work. They are working. And they still can't make it.
And something about that deeply bothers me.
We talk endlessly about millionaires and successful businesses, but I wonder how often we look at the people whose labor helped create that success. If you're an employer who can afford the second home, the third home, the beautiful vacations and the cruises, do you know whether the person working for you can afford dinner tonight? Do you know whether they're one rent increase away from homelessness?
Because there is something terribly wrong when a person can work all day and still not be able to afford the basic necessities of being alive.
I don't have the solution. I wish I did.
But I do know this: we have become very comfortable having boundaries around other people's suffering.
So instead of another argument in the comments, I'm turning the comments off. Your opinion isn't going to feed somebody tonight, pay their rent or change the structure we're living in.
Invest that energy somewhere else.
Check on your family.
Check on your friends.
Check on your neighbors.
And if you're an employer, check on your employees.
Are they safe?
Do they have a place to live?
Can they afford groceries?
Can they put gas in the car to come work for you tomorrow?
Success shouldn't just be measured by how far you made it.
Maybe it should also be measured by how many people had a better chance of making it because you were here.
Because someday, if there really is a gatekeeper at the gates of Heaven, I have a hard time believing the question is going to be:
“How much did you manage to keep for yourself?”
