Surviving Without a Safety Net

[marmar]

from Truthdig:



Surviving Without a Safety Net

Posted on Mar 8, 2010
By Bill Boyarsky


When I met Irv Feldman, he was hunched over a computer monitor at a state employment center, searching for a job. I soon learned he lives in a homeless shelter and his medical care, which doesn’t include hospitalization, comes from a limited county program.

Feldman, 60, a graduate of California State University, Northridge, works in a call center and on other temporary jobs while trying for full-time work in his field, information technology. He’s been out of the computer business for several years. “I’ve gone through a lot of mental anguish,” he said. “Before this, I estimated it took me a month to get a job; on occasion it might have taken three months. This time the recruiters I called weren’t in business. That was a scary thing.”

I came across Feldman when I visited the California Employment Department office in Pacoima, a blue-collar, overwhelmingly Latino community in Los Angeles’ northeast San Fernando Valley. The main task there is finding jobs. Another part of the department distributes unemployment benefits.

I visited the place to get away from the incessant writing and chatter about the politics of the Great Recession. It is a human and economics story more than a political one, and President Barack Obama seems to understand that. He shows his understanding by his frequent reading in his speeches and radio talks of portions of letters he receives from the uninsured and unemployed. He does a better job of telling us what’s happening in America during this trying time than most other politicians, journalists and the partisan political consultants who analyze the news on television.

The front lobby of the employment office was crowded with people waiting for interviews. In other parts of the building, there were job skill classes. So intense is the demand that the office began opening on Saturdays a year ago. California’s unemployment rate is 12.5 percent and Los Angeles County’s is 11.9 percent—both above the national figure of 9.7 percent. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/surviving_without_a_safety_net_20100308/

[Demeter]

1. Well, Obama Better Stop Talking And Start Doing What Needs to Be Done

which includes none of what he has done, and all of what he says he has no intention of doing.

Talk is cheap.

[aaronbav]

7. +1 - Seems like all O can do - and compromise and make back room deals

[whattheidonot]

2. 61

being 61 and looking for a job is scary. the jobs are few, the mangers very young, computer knowledge, which the young have plenty of is important, and the pay is bad. after a while one gets tired of it. only jobs are sales on commission which can be brutal. Living at my sister's house spending absolutely no money waiting for social security. Wonder how many others there are of my age are in the same boat. lots of old poor people coming up.

[Paper Roses]

3. Try being 67 for a few days. Been looking for a little over a year.

I feel like I am out to pasture.

Limited current skills, a couple of minor medical issues that do not allow me to either stand or sit for extended periods of time. I have to be active or one or the other problem kicks in. I am so sick of looking at job search sites. I recognize the listings and can recite the company by heart.
It may seem foolish for me not to go back to school but at my age, I'd be pushing up daisey's before I'm done.

I only have a few more weeks of unemployment and then I can no longer collect. Thats when the fun begins. One third of my check for Social Security will have to go to my real estate taxes. Been in this house 45 years but I'm wondering now if I have to think about selling it.

Never would have believed all this could happen to all of us.
Huge boat, big leaks. No lifeboats in sight.

[Knight Hawk]

4. Well..........

It is none on my business but I am about your age and have very little income.You are stronger than you think you are .Renting has many advantages.If your not one become a vegetarian.Rent a small place so u can keep it heated.Get hobbies that do not cost much.Human beings are more adaptable than they think they are .Things that you think you cannot live without you can.And me happier many times.

[Paper Roses]

5. Thanks for your thoughts. I really wish I could rent a small

house sometime down the line. It is too soon now for me to go that route. My late husband and I rebuilt this place 45 years and I am not yet ready to leave.
As to becoming a vegetarian, I'm well on my way to that. Except for parsnips and mushrooms, I eat regular veggie meals. I'll have chicken one and a while but I enjoy salads and roasted veggies far better than meat.
Parsnips are too bitter for me and I can't stand the texture of mushrooms in my mouth.

Believe me, I am active all the time, mostly with work--and I mean physical work around the old homestead. I also do some volunteer work.

No vegging around for me, I'd be bored to tears. I just get too tired or uncomfortable with some jobs that would have been possibilities when I was younger and had fewer physical things to contend with.

Today I rebuilt our rear wood fence. The big storm 2 weeks ago blew so hard that it wrecked the wood slats. Home Depot and I are well acquainted.

[Demeter]

8. You can try for a housemate

I had good and bad experiences with that. Perhaps someone on disability but still mobile? If you really want to stay in your home, there are ways. It's a matter of how much compromise you can stand, and how good you can manage the risks.

Also, pound on every agency and charity you ever hear of.

[grasswire]

9. PR, can you rent out rooms?

You live in a desirable area near the coast. Maybe you could take someone in.

That's how single women survived the Great Depression, remember. I know that you know that.

My best wishes. Too bad we are 3,000 miles apart -- we would have a million things to talk about over a cuppa something.

[Lars39]

10. Check to see if your state has a tax-relief program for the elderly.

You might qualify and get some help on your taxes.

[southernyankeebelle]

6. Am sick of hearing republicans blaming Obama when they always are the ones yelling

that the private sector creates job not the government. Well republicans where is the private sector? Obama is doing the best he can and all the republicans can say is NO. They hate the american people especially the working poor in this country.