An adult within two different families scheduled an appointment with me for crisis assistance, and as it turned out, the appointments were the same day. Both of the individuals are parents. Both individuals received a little unemployment insurance and stimulus help from the government. Yet, both were about $3,000 behind in necessary bills like rent and auto loans.
The first person that I interviewed had a plan for moving forward through this awful economic period, but the second person could not see beyond today’s pain to a better tomorrow. The difference in their perspectives was both clear and amazing.
The first person I interviewed saw these hard, hard days as temporary because she had experienced prior success at overcoming obstacles. She also had a system of encouragement behind her. The second person saw her circumstances as an expected part of her life. She had acquired learned hopelessness through generational poverty. She was living out the same life experienced by her parents.
Because of your support of our mission, I was able to help both families with rental assistance. On your behalf, I was also a compassionate listener and offered small achievable steps toward creating a plan for both households.
~ Bill Taber, Director, Crisis Assistance