Editor’s note: This commentary is by Jeanne Montross, the executive director of HOPE (Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects).
[T]his is an open letter to legislators regarding some of the proposals being considered in an effort to balance the state budget. The proposals include reductions in housing subsidies for people with serious mental illness, large cuts in fuel assistance, and reductions to the Weatherization Program. In addition, savings are proposed to the Reach Up program by counting the first $125 of Supplemental Security Income against family benefits.
If you don’t know what life is like for the people who will be impacted, it’s easier to mark up a budget and assume that folks on the losing end will somehow find a way to get by. At HOPE, a poverty relief organization serving Addison County, we know many people who may not. I’d like to tell you about some of them.
“George” is a 50-year-old man who looks 70. He is reclusive and illiterate, and lives in a house that is falling down around him. He receives $785 a month in disability income, and maybe a hundred or so in cash when he can find work – which is rare. His mortgage is $390 a month, property taxes are $2,400 a year, and then he has to find money for food, lights, heating fuel and medicine. During the past few years there’ve been times when it was so cold in his house that he’s had to have some toes amputated. This makes it harder for him to walk. He received some fuel assistance this winter, but it ran out in January. During the rest of the winter he came to us periodically for kerosene and firewood. He doesn’t have enough to eat, and can’t afford enough gasoline to take his trash to the landfill. His furnace needs to be repaired, and his woodstove chimney needs cleaning – he is unable to do this himself.
Their electricity has been turned off due to non-payment. They walk the roads near their house looking for wood that they can burn for heat. They go to a neighbor once a week to fill up water jugs.
“Jennifer” and “Ron” live in a rented shack on a dirt road in the mountains with their two small children. Ron was laid off from his job as a carpenter late last year. Their infant child has needed multiple brain surgeries, requiring costly transportation back and forth to Boston. They applied for fuel assistance, and received a small benefit that ran out quickly. Their electricity has been turned off due to non-payment. They walk the roads near their house looking for wood that they can burn for heat. They go to a neighbor once a week to fill up water jugs.
“Amanda” and her two children receive a total of $1,100 in SSI and $300 in Reach Up benefits each month. Their rent is $950, and it does not include heat or electricity. They already don’t have enough money to afford the bare minimum of necessities. The proposal for Reach Up cost savings will reduce their income even further.
These are just three families who are struggling badly to get by – there are many more.
I know that you, our elected representatives, have good intentions, and care about all Vermonters, including those living on low incomes. You have a very difficult job on your hands as you try to close a large state budget gap. But doing it by taking away from people who already don’t have enough is not an acceptable solution.
