Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is cautiously optimistic that the U.S. economy is "in a recovery."
During the past few months, I had the opportunity to work in a private nonprofit organization. It is often a stop of last resort for people who need help with utility shutoffs, paying for medications, getting food and myriad other needs.
With little or no income, it's impossible for them to cover the basic expenses of everyday living. Seeing the waiting room overrun with clients just after hearing Bernanke's pronouncement, I couldn't help but think: "Tell that to these people."
Every ring of the phone brings another frustrating situation. The power is being shut off or has already been, for days. A single mother of three who lives in Leelanau County has no car and no food.
A widow can't pay the fee for her husband's cremation. A student has missed the first three days of college because his car broke down. A man from Traverse City is stranded in California after going out there for work and having it fall through. A man from Ohio is stranded in Traverse City after coming to be with his dying mother.
One after another, clients will say they never imagined they would be in "a place like this." Some work full time, but for low wages that don't cover the bills -- especially if you throw illness or a suddenly unemployed spouse into the mix. There are people who look just like my grandparents -- there because they don't have the co-pay for their prescriptions, and to get food. The organization has written checks for $3 to cover a co-pay. $3.
Then there was a single mother in her 40s, long a secretary, recently laid off. New to coming there, she wept as she handed over her utility shutoff notice. She had always kept up with her bills, but the electric company was going to turn off her power unless she paid $111, which she didn't have. She's been trying desperately to find a job, but so far, no one's called for an interview. Meanwhile, her 11-year-old daughter was filling out the food pantry order. They stayed on my mind a long time.
So when she came again a couple weeks later, I asked her how it was going. The organization had paid to keep her electricity on after her previous visit, she said, but she needed food again. Still, she smiled and said she was excited because she actually had two job interviews later in the week.
So maybe Mr. Bernanke is on to something. Or maybe it's just wishes.
If only they were fishes. At least then, they could feed people.
Kathy Gibbons can at gibbonskath@yahoo.com. For more of Kathy's columns, log on to record-eagle.com/kathygibbons.
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