by Hope
I assume most everyone in the BAD community is now sheltering in place either voluntarily or via government mandate unless their job is considered essential. Georgia’s governor mandated “shelter in place” effective at 6pm yesterday although we have been sticking close to home for a while now with very few exceptions.
While the COVID 19 numbers in our community remain very low comparatively, the financial effects are becoming very obvious. We live in a depressed area to begin with, but with so many business shuttering for the time being, the effects are fairly obvious.
Our Community is Suffering
We are very fortunate to have plenty of food, be healthy and have few worries outside our four walls right now. But I am beginning to see and get word of families who are suffering. A neighbor who lives with his elderly father recently lost his job. It was their only income and little at that, paying $12 per hour with over an hour one way commute. I believe their water has been cut off as he showed up this morning asking to use our hose and filled several containers. I’ve been making extra plates of food every meal and he’s come to pick them up.
Then the handyman/friend who came and fixed our leaking sink mentioned a family with two small children a mile or so from us who didn’t have food beyond lunch that day. I had made a 5 lb roast for dinner, so sent him with food for several meals for them. And asked him to please tell them to reach out if they need anything. I know how hard it is to ask for help. And I also know how slow the system can be to respond to these types of needs.
We are very blessed to have plenty of food. It’s the way we have always lived, with 4 kids, I have always stayed stocked up and kept the freezer full. And I’m back in my element cooking for big crowds. And just when I think I was getting the hang of cooking for just the 2 or 3 of us.
How is Sheltering Place?
Not that sheltering is place is super easy, especially with two teenagers who are itching to see their friends and be out in the world. Gymnast has literally been climbing the walls…and the roof.
Hope is a resourceful, solutions-driven online business manager with over two decades of experience helping clients streamline operations, manage projects, and grow their businesses through digital marketing and technology.
But life has a way of rewriting your plans.
A year ago, Hope made the decision to move in with her aging parents full time – a season she wouldn’t trade, even as it came with its own financial and emotional weight. Earlier this year, she lost her mother, and is now walking the tender, disorienting path of grief while learning what “forward” looks like from here.
Hope came to the Blogging Away Debt community in 2015 as a single mom raising five foster and adoptive children. She’s written through job changes, financial setbacks, and the bittersweet transition to an empty nest. Her kids are finding their footing in the world now – and so is she.
Rooted in faith and fueled by the same perseverance she’s brought to every hard season, Hope is ready to face her finances with fresh eyes and an honest pen. She believes that clarity, courage, and community can change the trajectory of anyone’s story including her own.
She lives in Austin, TX with her dad, loves adventures with her dog Addie, and is figuring out, one step at a time, what this next chapter is meant to be.
It’s amazing to me that in a time period where everyone is being told to wash their hands that a township would shut off water to residents now. It’s a health issue for the whole community if people can’t wash their hands and end up spreading germs. I will give my community credit for that, one of the first things they did was suspend water cut offs for a period of time. I urge you to call and tell your leadership that with hand washing being the primary means to fight this virus they should try to ask the state for assistance in covering a freeze on shut offs as well.
I agree, and my community did the same thing. No utilities are being shut off right now
I hope you told Gymnast to get down as soon as that picture was taken. A trip to the ER is the last thing you need right now. The ladder on the table looks so unsafe.
These are two pictures in the span of how much ever time, like jeepers give the criticism a break.
Really – do you bitch about everything at home too? Rude
Nah, it’s the truth. She’s been extremely irresponsible with the virus, let’s not add an ER visit. Call me crazy but when my kids are doing something they shouldn’t I don’t take a picture and play it off as a cute thing, I tell them to cut it out.
Tons of parents snap a picture in one second then advise their kids to knock it off, like damn. you sound like a Karen, not a Laura.
He was actually up there to sweep off the spring leaves and debris from the trees, something our family does several times a year for our home and others if needed.
Thanks for sharing with your neighbors at this time. Our city is not turning off the water for people who have lost an income. I am sad that yours does turn off the water. Thankful that you can share water via a hose so he doesn’t have to enter your home. The roast sound yummy. Hope, thank you for being a light in this challenging time.
It is so good of you to see a need and help the people in need even in times like this. So many people just think of themselves in an emergency situation.
My husband and I are still able to work as we are construction truck drivers so we are considered double essential, construction and truck drivers.
Shopping has become a pain though, long lines with them limiting how many people are in the store and we still have low stock on things so when I’m able to find what we typically only buy one of we are buying multiples so that we have them when we need them.
Your county turning off water is horrible, I hope that people advocate on behalf of those who cannot do so for themselves.
Kudos to you for supporting those who are struggling right now Hope. Not everything you have done is perfect, but your kids are going to learn some great skills from you.
That’s horrible about the utilities being cut off. My state (Kentucky) has stopped all the utility companies from shutting off accounts and evictions have also temporarily been stopped due to this crisis. Shame on your state/region.
Hope takes a lot of criticism here-some may be founded, some just people are always going to have tunnel vision and want to bitch about something. Regardless, there is no question about Hope’s big heart and willingness to help those in need. For that, Hope, many thanks. A little kindness in this uncertain world we currently live in is what is going to pull our country, the world through. What may seem trivial to us might be a lifesaver for another individual or family. A few buckets of water, a few meals, etc. may mean the world to the recipient. THANK YOU!
It is beginning to get old how mean people on here are to her.
I think long term readers just get frustrated because they don’t get the information they need, or she writes one thing and does another, or vice versa. But the outright cruelty in the comments is tired indeed. But Hope is helping, which is more than half the super negative commenters are probably doing (and then they’ll jump down my throat for insinuating that) but that is my point – i don’t know what they’re doing, they really don’t know what Hope is doing either tbh.
Your first sentence is right on. Another issue I have, that other commenters have stated as well, is that what is supposed to be a financial blog has evolved over time such that it’s is essentially a personal/lifestyle blog – not just for Hope. And then when financial posts are made, as you said, information is incomplete and contradictory. The posts are either frustrating or off topic.
As to cruelty, that isn’t necessary. However, some decisions Hope has made in recent days are as deserving of criticism as are the choices a drunk driver makes to drive home from the bar three sheets to the wind. Same mind set there.
I don’t disagree, some of her choices have been upsetting – but she is not the only finance blogger who has done stuff that boggles my mind in these last couple weeks, that is for sure. but people don’t need to be so cruel, as you stated too.
I asked about elizabeth, we have not seen anything from her – people were getting mean with her too so i wonder if she just peaced out.
I’m glad to hear you are able to help those in your community. My community has suspended all utility shut offs. People need water.