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Driving a Mercedes to the WIC office
When Darlena's husband lost her job right after they bought a house and had premature twins, she had this to say:
"The reality of poverty can spring quickly while the psychological effects take longer to surface. When you lose a job, your first thought isn't, "Oh my God, I'm poor. I'd better sell all my nice stuff!" It's "I need another job. Now." When you're scrambling, you hang on to the things that work, that bring you some comfort. That Mercedes was the one reliable, trustworthy thing in our lives."
And she had to drive it to the WIC office to pick up her benefits.
"I didn't feel animosity coming from them, more wonderment, maybe a bit of resentment. The most embarrassing part was how I felt about
myself.
How I had so internalized the message of what poor people should or should not have that I felt ashamed to be there, with that car, getting food. As if I were not allowed the food because of the car. As if I were a bad person."
But that car was paid off in full. Why trade it in on a car in worse shape and have to start with car payments again.
At Beverly Bootstraps we know that we could all be just one life event away from needing help. We consider each individual's entire situation in order to find the best ways to help them.
To read the full article that these excerpts are from,
click here.
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