The Front Line Of the Middle-Class Struggle: Helping Others Cope While Coping With a Pay Cut

[Donnachaidh]

http://www.truth-out.org/front-line-middle-class-struggle-helping-others-cope-while-coping-pay-cut/1309029135

A packed Senate hearing room sat quietly, slowly leaning in to catch the grief-stricken testimony of Amanda Greubel. “I’ve sat with parents as they completed the eligibility application , held their hands as they’ve shed tears of shame,” she explained, “… I’ve held women’s hands through pregnancy terminations because they can’t afford another child now.”

As Greubel's voice broke in her testimony, tears were beginning to form in my eyes. And mine weren’t the only ones.

Greubel is the director of the Family Resource Center at Central Clinton Community Schools in DeWitt, Iowa. She came to Washington on Thursday to testify before a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee hearing entitled, “Stories from the Kitchen Table: How Middle Class Families are Struggling to Make Ends Meet.”

Testifying with Greubel were Jared Bernstein, Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Susan Sipprelle, multimedia journalist; and Thomas Clements, Founder of Oilfield CNC Machining LLC in Louisiana.

More at the link --