Every vote counts: preserve anti-poverty programs and protect families

What happens in our lives is often out of our control. But making common sense investments in our families is something we can control — at the ballot box.

When I was a kid, I had no idea we were low-income. My single mom had a decent job as a regional rail conductor, and she’d sometimes take me to the movies or on vacations.

But she had trouble finding child care — the cost was simply too high, especially because she had to go to work so early in the morning. In the end, my mom had no choice but to take me to work with her.

As a kid, I enjoyed it. It seemed normal and fun to me — until I was the one with bills to pay.

Even working multiple jobs, our household income isn’t enough to make ends meet for my four kids and me now. I remember once, when we couldn’t pay the electric bill and the lights went out, I told my kids we were “camping in the dark,” trying to make it feel like an adventure.

There are millions more like us. There’s a nationwide shortage of affordable housing, and the federal minimum wage isn’t enough for a full-time worker to afford a market-rate two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the country.

I’ve been fortunate to have help buying food for my family through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Though it keeps my kids from going hungry, it’s not enough — and my children have various disorders that require special diets, which are unaffordable with the modest SNAP benefits we receive.

Housing and health are further barriers to thriving. Due to toxic conditions in our low-quality rental apartment, my youngest has lead poisoning and lives with life-threatening seizures — he had his first at just nine months old.

Since then, all my children have been diagnosed with a seizure disorder and asthma — conditions that have deeply impacted our day-to-day lives. Managing their health has required constant attention, but it’s taught me the importance of being vigilant and resilient in the face of adversity.

Which is good, because we’ve had no shortage of that.

We were on the waitlist for a safer Section 8 apartment, but the wait became longer and longer. Eventually, I learned that the housing office had made a clerical error in my street address and sent my acceptance letter to the wrong address — and I lost my place on the list.

So we became homeless — and because shelters wouldn’t keep families together, we had to get a room in a hotel that didn’t have air conditioning and didn’t allow cooking. People who’ve never experienced this kind of hardship don’t know the obstacles we face, even as we work hard and try everything in our power to do our best for our kids.

These obstacles are political choices about how we as a nation invest our tax dollars.

Programs like SNAP benefit not only families but also society as a whole. The SNAP program acts as a stabilizer on a wobbly economy during a downturn because it puts money in people’s pockets to buy more food, generating income for agriculture industries and creating more jobs. A few years ago, its economic multiplier effect was gauged at producing $1.54 billion for every $1 billion invested.

The solutions to poverty — such as more robust investment in programs like SNAP, affordable housing, and well-paying jobs — benefit all of us. These are the common sense solutions, the rising tides that lift all boats. Giveaways to the uber-wealthy and corporations don’t.

We need to use our voice — and our vote — to make sure people who represent the interests of families, children, workers, and a more equitable economy are the ones making decisions about where to put our hard-earned tax dollars.

When we all do better, we all do better. Life may throw you curveballs or put mountains in your way. Often, it’s out of our control. But making common sense investments in what’s best for all of us is something we can control — at the ballot box. Vote.

This blog post was originally published by OtherWords, a project of the Institute for Policy Studies.