American Winter

March 18th, 2013

I get a text from my

husband when I'm at work saying,

"PGE is here to shut us off. "

And they come to my door.

He says, "I'm with PGE,

and I need $557 right now,

otherwise I'm going to shut off

your electricity. "

I was like,

"I don't have $557."

I came home.

No lights, no nothing,

and then explaining to the kids

when they got home

that we had no electricity...

That was hard.

With the no lights,

it was hard to get

around the house.

And since there was

no electricity,

we couldn't cook our food.

It was so cold

that me and my baby brother

had to curl up on the couch

together, and we had,

like, 4 comforters on us.

It was really scary.

My 4-year-old was like,

"Mommy, why are you crying?

What's wrong?"

I'm like, "Nothing, baby.

It's OK. Everything's

going to be OK."

"Then why are you

crying, Mommy?

"I don't want to see you cry.

It's OK. We're OK."

My son walks in

and he comes up to me

and he... Oh, yeah.

He puts his arm around me,

and he says I'm the best dad.

Don't feel like it.

Thank you for calling 211.

How can I help you?

I was calling.

I need help with

our electric bill.

Still looking

for a job, but I haven't

found anything, and the

money I had has run out.

I just lost my job, and

I won't be able to pay

rent for February.

I'm going to see if I can find

some resources in your area.

211 here in Portland,

we're a non-profit organization

that connects people

to community services,

primarily over the phone

and also through the Web.

Thanks for calling 211.

How can I help you?

Yes, I need to

know if you guys can help me see

if there's anybody to help

with energy assistance.

- We were doing awesome.

- Then the winter came.

The winter came.

He got laid off.

I currently am

going to have to move out

of my apartment;

I have no way to pay it.

We can't pay our bills.

Are we gonna have to move out?

Are we gonna have

a 72-hour eviction?

Yes, I was calling to inquire

about energy assistance.

I got good grades in school,

I went to college,

and then to come out

and still live impoverished?

I was

told to call you guys and see

if you had any resources

for rental assistance.

I have got doctor bills,

like, every day in the mail.

I got a $49,000 bill.

Today we have no water

and we have absolutely

no money to pay it.

It's been 3 days since

the water got turned off.

I'm

not used to being able

to not provide

basic things like water.

My house is

going up for foreclosure sale.

My savings dried up

from making these house

payments, so I'm getting

foreclosed on.

I don't know what to do.

I'm needing some help

with my electric bill.

My mom

never owned a home,

so buying a house was

a huge deal for me.

And yesterday, when we were

signing those papers,

it's just like, "My kids

don't have a home. "

I am looking

housing for myself and my son.

I am a recent widow.

I came home from work

one day, and my son

looks at me and says,

"Dad's in the back of that ambulance. "

They said, within him

being there not even two hours

that he was septic and that

he was going to die.

For the middle

class in this country, we have

a "one strike and

you're out" economy.

The system that once

was in place

to cushion those crises

has been frayed.

And I think what people are

experiencing in this country is

how quickly you can go

from middle class

to being extremely vulnerable.

The most endangered

species in America is

the middle-class family,

and I think we have

to be alarmed by that

and ask whether that is

good policy.

We got

the car payment,

the credit card's

at $151 right now,

so we have to come up with $500

to make this month's rent.

Did you just say 500?

When he lost

his job, I was kinda scared and

kinda nervous, but then,

you know, I figured,

"Oh, he'll, he'll get

a job, you know?

He's been doing this

for 5 or 6 years.

He'll get a job," you know?

And it has not been that way.

- Hasn't been that way.

- No.

I went through

the whole phone book

from top to bottom.

I went through

every single page

and I called each place

asking them

if they were hiring,

and none of them,

not one of them said

they were hiring, not one.

Close.

I went to

the apartment complex,

pretty much

laid it out, saying,

"I don't have a job anymore.

I can't afford $1,000 a month.

Is there any way I can

get out of this lease

so I can kinda move into

somewhere I can afford?"

They pretty much told me no.

If you get an eviction

on your record,

you can't move into a place.

We can't have an eviction.

We have two children.

We need another place, and

they said that... the $1,500,

we said, "Can we make

payments on it?

So let's move out,

we'll make payments. "

They want us to pay

$2,500 in 90 days.

It's hard to accept

that this is happening.

Like, we're going to have

to put all of our stuff

in storage and then live

with my mom again.

I'm 26, living

with my mom again.

I never thought I'd be getting

help from the state, you know?

I told myself

I would never do that.

Never thought I would be

getting food stamps.

I never put that in my head.

- You know?

- I know.

We're going to

possibly be on couches.

I can't count

the number of people

I've spoken with who start

their conversation with,

"I never believed I would be

in this situation. "

They say, "I have

always worked. "

People are just stunned that

they are suddenly in a position

where not only did they get laid

off, but their unemployment

is running out or has run out

because they cannot find a job.

They think, "Well, I had money

in my retirement account

and I had a savings account

and I used to take vacations

and I had new cars, and now

I am struggling

to put gas in my car. "

Pay attention to Daddy, OK?

- I need your help.

- Nope.

Yeah, I need your help.

One more.

You did it.

It was

about 8:
00, 9:00 that evening

when the doctor came in and told

us that he had Down Syndrome.

You know, I tell you what,

something that will knock you

on the floor, that... you know,

that initial reaction

and everything.

You know, you just... "Oh!"

OK. Ready? Here we go.

- You ready?

- Ready. Ha ha!

Oh!

I was working

for Columbia Sportswear,

making oh, about $55,000,

$56,000 a year

as their cost accountant,

and then I got laid off.

OK, come on. Back up a little.

Back up a little.

My parents,

they live about 490 miles away.

They run a cattle ranch up there

in North Central Washington.

We take the horses

and train them,

and then my parents use them

up in the Cascade Mountains.

I've been working since

I was 10, 12 years old.

Anyone worth their salt

wants to work.

I'll scrub toilets.

I'm not too good to do...

you know, I'm not above

doing any kind of work.

I cannot

tell you how many people

have told me how they were

the successful people,

they always did well in school.

And so they had families

and they bought homes

and they had mortgages,

and then they started to

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