On Saturday, this excellent story by Erik Eckholm ran in the New York Times, relating the hardships faced by many that live in Washington County, Maine. It is a very rural area that borders New Brunswick, Canada, and to call its economy depressed is an understatement. This especially affects the elderly and disabled:
Over the last half century, Social Security, Medicare and private pensions have lifted most of the nation’s elderly. In 1960, one in three lived below the poverty line; now fewer than one in 10 do. But in Washington County, the poverty rate among those 65 and older is nearly one in five and many more live only a little above the federal subsistence standard in 2007 of $10,200 for a single person and $13,690 for two.
The people featured in the article comment as if from the same book: while their lives are hard, there is always someone that is worse off than they are. One woman in particular caught my (and others) attention: Viola Brooks.
Make the jump.
Viola Brooks, 81, worked in fish and blueberry factories while her husband worked in textile and logging jobs. Now widowed, she gets $588 a month from Social Security, supplemented by $112 in food stamps and one-time fuel aid of more than $500 for the winter.
But this year, that fuel aid will not fill a single tank. The average house cost $1,800 to heat last year, and minimal comfort this winter may require closer to $3,000; trailers will require somewhat less. Electricity and rent already take up most of Ms. Brooks’s income.
"I’m broke every month, and the trailer needs storm windows," she said. "I cook a lot of pea soup and baked beans and buy flour to make biscuits."
"Some day I’d like to go to a hairdresser," Ms. Brooks said of a dream deferred. Still she says she enjoys her lovebirds and cats, and points out that "some people have it worse."
I'd like to send Mrs. Brooks to the hairdresser, and I need your help. Please take a moment and send a donation for whatever amount you can afford to the:
Washington Hancock Community Agency
Thaw Fund
P. O. Bos 280
Milbridge, Maine 04658
Or via this online form found here:
Network for Good
Our nation has endured almost seven years of "Compassionate Conservatism" which has impacted those on the lower end of the economic scale the most.
Fellow Kossaks, please join me in showing the people of Washington County what "Comppasionate Liberalism" can do!!