A chance to hear from a few of our clients

Over the last year, Athens County Job and Family Services has invited our clients to tell us about some of the challenges and struggles they are facing.

As Ohio’s leaders deliberate over the state’s next two-year budget, we will be posting a few of these comments each week so that you can hear from some of our neighbors about the obstacles they face every day. We hope our leaders will look at how the budget impacts families who are just trying to survive, instead of only looking at the budget as a series of numbers and dollar signs.

We encourage you to take a few moments to read over these comments, as well as the other comments posted on this blog. Thank you for your time and thoughtful consideration.

·        "I am financially seeing hardship when I only make $290.00 every two weeks.  I have a car payment and a telephone bill that I pay every month.  This leaves me very little money to buy groceries and personal items.  I sometimes have to pay half of my phone bill so I have enough to buy the things I need.  Medically, I have to pay out of pocket if I am sick and need to see a doctor.  When I am sick I cannot go to the doctor’s office because of the cost and the bill that it will incur by doing so.  I haven’t seen a medical doctor in three years."

·         "I cannot afford to buy food once I pay my bills.  I am struggling to pay my portion of the doctor’s appointment that Medicare does not cover, as well as paying for my prescriptions.  My vehicle has major issues and I am doing good to keep it on the road but am unable to afford to pay the necessary repairs that need made to it."

·         "I am facing the same hardships as most people in Athens County not enough money for rent, utilities, food, gas and clothing. I decided to go back to school so that I could get a better job and become self-sufficient. However, before I can finish, you are cutting every program that makes it possible to go to school. With no jobs available and social programs being cut, people (including myself) are faced with even more hardships. There has to be a better solution. Believe me, taking social programs away will not help our economy, it will do just the opposite. You need to allow us to better ourselves so that we can help support our economy. How else will the economy grow?"