JoB
NewResident…
i think you are wrong about the norm on public assistance…
some people are lucky enough to get the kind of breaks in life that let them start out ahead.. such as your friend who started out as a flight attendant… and messed up.
I think it’s easy to see that those people should get second chances.
But what about the people who aren’t so lucky? Those people don’t need a second chance.. they need a first chance…
I barely escaped needing that first chance myself. Many of my cousins still need that first chance and it is too late for them now.
Because of that, i have spent a good portion of my life in advocacy… i have worked in some of the worst neighborhoods in our country… trying to help people put their lives together through a variety of programs.
And because of my illness.. i know many people on welfare of one kind or another who are there for no reason other than being too ill to work… and are likely to be there for the rest of their lives….
some of them are professional people who spent their considerable savings trying to find a cure or treatment for their illness… so they could go back to work…
many of them waited too long before finally filing for social security disability and lost most of or all of the benefits they had earned… myself included.
i didn’t want disability.. i wanted to find some way to work.
and no… i am not on welfare… I am lucky. But i have close friends who struggle to survive on public benefits.
Sometimes it isn’t so easy for those who need assistance to better their current situation…