Julie's story

It’s one thing for state leaders to talk about how budget cuts can cause delays in receiving food and cash assistance, but it’s another thing to be one of the people who desperately needs assistance, but has to wait because of the delays.

Julie (not her real name because she asked not to be identified) is an Athens County resident who is currently facing that exact situation. It’s a place she never expected to be in.

“I had the same job for the last 15 years,” Julie said. She lost her job on Aug. 20, though, because of changes in the company she worked for and because she has not yet earned her GED. She is currently in the Adult Basic Literacy Education (ABLE) program at The Work Station so that she can earn her GED, but she has been having trouble with the math portion of the test because of a learning disability. She passed all of the other sections of the test.

So today she has no income of her own, she and her family are living on her husband’s small income, she has no way to pay many of her bills, she is eating just one meal per day and she has to wait until at least Sept. 9 just for an appointment with Athens County Job and Family Services to apply for the Food Assistance program and other programs. Her wait to receive assistance from the Food Assistance program be at least two weeks, and the wait for her unemployment assistance pay to begin will be even longer.

And while Julie has to wait to receive the assistance, her bills and expenses don’t wait at all, they keep coming in and piling up.

Julie has overcome two serious challenges in her life, and she is doing everything she can now to climb over this latest hurdle.

When she was 11, she was seriously injured in an accident and was in a coma for more than a week. The accident left her with a learning disability, as it has been difficult for her to work with numbers ever since. She can remember phone numbers from years ago, but has trouble with certain parts of math. She has not let this disability stop her, though, as she has achieved a great deal in her life and knows that she will eventually pass the math portion of the GED.

When she was 17, she dropped out of school after she became pregnant.

“My parents kicked me out of the house…I was homeless,” Julie said. “I had to go out and get a job.” She began working immediately, and worked for a time in fast food and restaurant positions.

Later, she got a job as a caregiver for individuals with developmental disabilities, and worked in that field for the last 15 years.

Today, she lives with her husband and two children and is proud of everything she has accomplished. Julie always worked hard at her job and cared about her work, and she also worked hard for her family and paid all of her bills.

Losing her job, though, changed everything for her.

“I’m heartbroken,” Julie said. “The people I took care of weren’t just my clients, they were like my family.” Working with them for so many years, she became very close with the clients and their family members.

“I love them to death,” she said.

She is also understandably worried about her family’s financial situation now with just one income. Her husband makes $8.50 per hour at his job, and that money only pays part of the bills.

She does not know how she will make the payment on her truck this month, she knows her cable will likely be shut off for non-payment, and she is worried about other bills as well. In addition, her two children are growing teenagers who need to eat, so it is often hard to keep food in the house. Julie has already visited a food pantry once, and said there is very little food at home for the family.

“It’s good that the kids are back in school now, that really helps me,” Julie said, explaining that her children receive free breakfast and lunch at school so she only has to feed them at night.

“I just eat one meal a day,” she added.

Julie was able to receive emergency assistance from Job and Family Services to pay her utility bills, and she was thankful for the help she received from Shirley James and other employees.

“She’s wonderful,” Julie said.

Despite the help she received, though, she is not able to get any regular assistance from the Food Assistance program or any other program until she can meet with a caseworker on Sept. 9.

State budget cuts have forced county Job and Family Services offices around Ohio to reduce the number of their employees at a time when caseloads are increasing. This is leading to delays for people like Julie who are applying for assistance or those clients who need to make changes to their cases.

“They need more people here to help people,” Julie said. “I’ve worked hard in my life and now when I need help I can’t get it.”

It’s frustrating for her to know that she has held a steady job and done everything she was supposed to do, but because of state budget problems she can’t be helped for a few weeks. Julie added that she knows people have abused the system over the years and they still receive assistance, but because of state budget cuts she has to wait for help.

Julie knows she will eventually pass her GED, and she knows that she will find work again and get back on her feet.

Today, though, she is sad about losing a job that she loved, worried about how she will feed her family and pay her bills, and upset that the help that is supposed to be there for her told her to come back in a few weeks.