I don't want my dad to lose health insurance or my parents to lose our family childhood home. My dad has survived diabetes, a heart attack and cancer and did so without complaint. In March 2009, two years prior to retirement, he was laid off from his job after nearly a decade. Although he is highly intelligent and hugely qualified in OSHA Safety, job hunting on the internet has made it easy for potential employers to be cruely impersonal, not even responding to a resume and email inquiry.
My mom is self-employed in her own business and any income goes back into running her small retail business. Both my sister and I were laid off in 2008 and are employed freelance from home to make ends meet. My husband was laid off until recently and both of our husband's are blue-collar, so we, like the majority of America struggle each month to make the income meet the bills. As much as we'd give anything in the world to be able help our parents, we have nothing but our love that we can offer.
Our parents have lived in our family home for over twenty-five years. My dad is scouring the want ads every day, applying and hearing NOTHING. He is, by no means, sitting on his backside simply collecting unemployment. Being without work is driving him stir-crazy. All he wants is a job in OSHA Safety. Right now they are paying for COBRA for his insurance, but when that stops in December, that means no heart or cancer medication. And this is dangerous for his continued well-being.
My parents have ALWAYS done everything in their power to help people. They were foster parents on and off for almost thirty years and my mom was a nanny for another ten. They given of themselves so many times without asking for anything in return. Now that they need help, there is nothing out there.
Because he was making an extremely decent salary in 2008 and until March, my parents do not qualify for any of the help programs available - even though the only income now is unemployment and they cannot make their house payment, regular bills and pay over $500 a month for COBRA. My dad always prided himself on having incredible credit, never missing a bill payment, and always paying everything on time. Now bill collectors are calling because there is just not enough money and there is no one turn to for help.
We love our parents and feel helpless because we are not in a position to financially help them. My dream is to have someone reading this meet and interview my dad, be blown away by his skills and offer him a job in OSHA Safety. My ultimate wish would be to have some organization pay off my parent's mortgage, so even if my dad is forced into early retirement, they can afford to keep our home and my Dad could afford to pay for his health insurance.
