Amazing people are found everywhere across America. When given the opportunity to tell their stories or share their hopes and dreams there are more likenesses than differences in their stories. The fact is life has become too busy, so much going on and just not enough time or effort put into to get to know others and really see truly who these other people are and what they are about, who they are and get to know their families.
During the fall of Wall Street and the markets crashing, when so many people didn’t know what would be happening to their jobs, the fears were the same for the people making $40,000 a year as those making $75,000 to $300,000 and more. Would they keep their jobs or suddenly lose everything they had worked so hard for due to no fault of their own? It didn’t matter what type of job a person had, years of experience, college degrees, a CEO or the boss of 500 people, no promises of a person’s job safety.
When so many homes were going up for foreclosure, many of those homes had been owned for many years. A lot of homes were new purchases, many had mortgages nearly paid off. Some worth $80,000, $200,000, $500.000, and right on up over a million dollars. Movie stars couldn’t afford to keep their homes. Financial hardship does not discriminate. When it hits nationwide as it did, it is even worse because there is nobody to lend a helping hand.
Yes, people were living above their means, well above in many cases. Many people had been living from paycheck to paycheck. Many two income houses suddenly turned into one income and then a part time income. But this can happen even without a financial crash of our Nation. This happens every single day across America.
Nearly any family at any time can get hit in the same way with a tragic medical diagnosis. Even if you have insurance, if someone in your family is struck with a chronic medical illness, especially if that person is the main income in the family and the person who holds the medical benefits. The financial situation will suddenly take a drastic turn if the medical situation remains ongoing causing a long term absence from work, long term hospital care, recovery, uncovered expenses, trial medications or travel for treatments unavailable in the local area.
Thanks to the Family Medical Leave Act signed in by President Bill Clinton in 1993, an employer cannot take a person’s job due to the necessity of absence in these conditions but pay is not required nor is covering the cost of health insurance premiums.
Understanding others and what they may be facing, how they have gotten into the situation they may be in or asking sometimes if they are okay may make a world of difference, literally. Understanding those around the community is a start to understanding the gaps in fixing many of the things that are in need of bringing communities back together.
Understanding families and their children will help our society to know how to work with the educational system and when a community works together for its children, success quickly begins to show. One thing parents typically agree on is the best for their children. It starts with understanding more of where the children are coming from and that requires working together, everyone in every walk of their life.
See people for their likenesses and not for their differences.
Bridge the gap.
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