We are a low-income neighborhood; most of us work in the trades, the service industry, or in jobs that require degrees like teaching and social work but still pay very little. The economy looms over us; when it falters, we feel it first. Even if we, personally, are still okay, the impact brushes up against our lives. When our neighbors fall behind on rent and get evicted, they move into our spare rooms. When gas prices go up, we leave the house early to carpool to help a friend save money. Over the years, I’ve shared food with a neighbor out of work, watched children for people who can’t afford childcare, and loaned my car out a million times.
I should be grateful for the opportunity to care for others—and mostly, I am. But I also feel tired and nervous when it seems like it’s all on us. When our government doesn’t step up, poor and working class people are not just the ones hurt, but are also left trying to make things right.
This is happening in every working class and poor community across the country.
Michaela Merz, of Chaves County, New Mexico, insists she isn’t “a bleeding heart liberal.” But when I met her, she was sitting in the corner of a Salvation Army pancake breakfast with her medivac kit. First trained in search and rescue to find people lost in the desert, Michaela noticed that people in town had similar medical needs: dehydration, heat exhaustion, minor injuries that, if left untreated, could worsen. They also lacked primary care doctors or insurance. So Michaela created Pecos Valley Public Service, an all volunteer, free EMS service for low-acuity medical needs.
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Working people do a tremendous amount of charitable work: showing up after long days at work to help staff food pantries and community centers, watching each other’s kids as parents work odd shifts, repairing a neighbor’s alternator so they don’t lose their job come Monday. Some of it is just good neighborliness, but much of it is because we know that keeping the people around us up and running makes life better for all of us.
Read the rest at Working Class Stories
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