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The Daily Herald updates us today about a stalled plan to create a rental subsidy program.
Jacqui Mullen, one of the thousands of homeless single mothers in Illinois, is “tired of being a statistic.”The 24-year-old works full time at a minimum-wage job taking care of elderly and disabled people. After paying for food, clothes, child care and diapers for her 21-month-old son, there isn’t money to pay rent. So she and Benji live in a dormitory-style shelter for women and their children.
“My major long-term goal is to have a home in a decent neighborhood and my kids to come up healthy and happy,” Mullen said.
She might get help reaching that goal if state lawmakers approve a plan to subsidize rent for an estimated 5,500 low-income families, but the measure has been sidelined by differences between Cook County officials who want a piece of the money involved.
This has been a weird fight from day one. The county’s own lobbyists, have, at times, lobbied both for it and against it at the same time.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Mar 15, 05 @ 8:31 am
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> After paying for food, clothes,
> child care and diapers for her
>21-month-old son, there isn’t money
>to pay rent. So she and Benji live in
>a dormitory-style shelter for women
>and their children.
>”My major long-term goal is to have a
>home in a decent neighborhood and my
>kids to come up healthy and happy,”
>Mullen said.
So she’s thinking about having more kids?
I think diapers are too expensive. We need a diaper subsidy for her. That, or hire her as a lobbyist.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Mar 15, 05 @ 10:59 am
Fear not, Ms. Mullen, under the Bush Administration’s Faith-Based Initiative, George, Karl, Karen Hughes + Co will supply you with The Perfect Husband who will swoop you and Benji up in a White SUV (this is the 21st Century, not the Middle Ages) and carry you off to The Perfect Suburb where you will lead the Perfect June Cleaver life. Don’t fret none about grubby, socialistic subsidies or the cost of diapers.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Mar 15, 05 @ 11:10 am
Of course, let’s not talk about why her wages are so low.
No, let’s just import MORE uneducated workers to compete with her. Let’s also hand out an amnesty to illegal aliens to solve that issue.
Just like the 1986 amnesty was the “last” one.
Comment by Pat Collins Tuesday, Mar 15, 05 @ 1:01 pm
You mean she has a job? But my favorite conservative talk radio show host said that everyone on welfare is a bum who doesn’t work and just wants to live off the government. How odd.
Well, I’m sure being a Republican legislator is much harder than working minimum wage grunt jobs and trying to raise a family on your own. Any single mother knows what a cake-walk that is.
Comment by DownLeft Tuesday, Mar 15, 05 @ 4:57 pm
Your sarcasm is cute, but doesn’t help this poor woman and her child. Rather than take cheap pot shots at conservatives, how about directing some of your wit at the slobs in Cook County who want a cut of the action while doing little if anything to help this woman?
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Mar 15, 05 @ 5:39 pm
Sad thing is, I work for the state, and a lot of people I work with are single parents in lower paying job titles. To make ends meet, they have to work overtime, which means less time to spend with their children. It’s a vicious cycle.
Why not help give a leg up to people who want to better themselves and their children(s) future? Nothing was said there wasn’t an ex out of the picture, not paying his support or anything like that. Heck, even with support, she probably couldn’t make it.
People across cultures and tax brackets are paying the price for the economy being in the dumpster in this state. No one is willing to take the first steps to solving the problem.
Double edged sword.
Comment by Tessa Tuesday, Mar 15, 05 @ 6:05 pm
Well said, Tessa.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Mar 15, 05 @ 6:09 pm
In light of the Section 8 cuts, funds need to be generated to compensate. Unfortunately, do to the abuses that occured with Section 8 funding, you have to reach out for a new program. I think SB 75 and its predecessors are great efforts in the right direction. That being said, I believe the burden for generating these funds should be spread across a broader range of businesses or industries.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Mar 15, 05 @ 8:53 pm