Generous even in hard times

by Donald Pettyjohn—Ohio

On my ninth day of canvassing in Dayton for Working America, I met a woman with an interesting and inspiring story. She was in her late fifties and raising her ten-year-old grandson, whose mother and father didn’t want anything to do with him. She didn’t want to see the boy sent to a foster home and so took custody of him. She explained that she had a medical problem consisting of a mass building up inside of her and didn’t know what exactly it was, except that it causes her a lot of pain. She also said that she had so many medical bills from her past problems that now she couldn’t possibly pay them with what she was receiving on social security. As such, she felt she couldn’t go to the doctor to find out what was wrong with her on her $450/month from social security. A few months ago, her social security had been raised to $520/month, but as a result her food stamp allowance had been reduced to $23/month. As she started crying, she told me that her rent was $325/month and that she could barely afford food and utilities.

She said between sobs that she couldn’t pay any dues but said she would make phone calls for Working America, put together fliers or even follow canvassers around with something cold to drink. I thanked her for her generosity and willingness to help despite her situation and she told me, “No, thank you for coming out each day trying to help better the lives of people like me.” I gave her a big hug and assured her that things will get better and she smiled.

As I left, I couldn’t help but think about what we do and the impact it has on peoples’ lives. And I know in my heart that coming to Working America was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. If we don’t stand up and fight for these people, no one will.

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