Wow. The stories here are really powerful.  

wearethe99percent:

I was an art teacher in the Diocese of Rochester for 24 years. The pay has always been below poverty level. I’ve worked three – four jobs for years trying to make ends meet. One of my other jobs was to design and build sets for community theater.

Last March & April I received a critical spinal injury, and needed emergency surgery. Because I was a temp., the district had no legal obligation to assist in my expenses. I was hospitalized for 4 weeks. While I was strapped to my bed, my primary employer, The Diocese of Rochester, revoked each of my saved up sick days (over 60 in total). They also demoted me from permanent part-time to hourly. Finally, they refused to relinquish the salary I had set aside for our summer living expenses.

I was assured at the time of my surgery that I would have a job to return to. That was a lie. My principal replaced me with a volunteer.

Our family has suffered greatly from my loss of employment and equally the high cost of medical care. My retirement fund, after 24 years, has less than $2,000 in it. My savings account is empty. I am denied disability benefits because I was part-time. We’ve gone weeks without utilities that include; Gas, Electric, Phone, & Cable. I had to end my physical therapy weeks early because of the high costs per treatment.  Our home is in foreclosure. I can no longer do physical work, and I cannot collect unemployment or disability benefits.

Our oldest son cannot afford to return for college. Our youngest son will go without a birthday party and likely Christmas this year. Both of our cars are broken down wrecks. We rely on them, but cannot afford repairs or legal tires.

We need money to live on. I risk re-injuring my spine and potentially dying or spending my life in a wheelchair if I return to a job now. If I do not find a job to return to, we risk losing what little we have remaining.

I am part of the 99%

occupywallst.org