11/19/2023
Something to think about, especially as the cold months are hereâŠ
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 letâs do the math :
You bring home about
$1,600 .00 a month & your bills average about $1,550.00 (give or take).
Youâre 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, itâs a really cold December and you get a power bill for $600 .00
How do you pay that?
To put it simply , you donât.
Because you canât.
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 youâre in court crying to a judge who doesnât care, & you have 10 days to get out.
Well youâre in luck, because you found somewhere with 3 days to spare & itâs only $650.00 a month!
But to get in, you must pass a background & credit check. Which you canât because you just got evicted.
Youâve never been a criminal, but even if you could pass it, youâre looking at $1300 to move in, after paying the deposit & first monthâs rent.
Timeâs up ....
Landlord shows up at 7am with the police & changed your locks.
So, now youâre 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 donât have a billing address so they wonât 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 isnât devastating enough, you lose your job too. (Because âan employee losing their child reflects poorly on this company .â)
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 ~ theyâre going to increase your monthly rate since youâre now
â high risk .â
You call the homeless shelter as a last resort & all their beds are full.
Iâll 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 & donât even realize it .
All it takes is :
* one unexpected billđ~
* one fender benderđđ„đ~
* one lay-off đ~
* one house fire đ đ„ , etc.
Instead of talking trash about people who are poor , homeless , or need assistance , why donât you try being grateful that youâre not in their shoes ...... YET !
This is about staying humble & being kind .
BE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE †(copied)
