Overwhelmed before 21

Life in a small town can be difficult when you’re supporting a family, as Kenny Wickett, a 20-year-old who has lived in Richmond his entire life, is finding out first-hand.  Wickett currently lives with his parents, girlfriend and newly born son, Jonathon, in a small house on the south side of the city.

Wickett settled into working at the Richmond Baking Company in order to support himself and his (at the time) pregnant girlfriend, who live with his parents but are not dependent on them.  Wickett was injured on the job about two months ago, however, having caught his right hand in a machine that sliced through most of his fingers.  He was rushed to the hospital and stitched up right before being fired for not taking proper precautions. 

“The company claimed that it was my fault, which is ridiculous.”  Wickett claims to have been following procedure, but shrugs when asked why he hasn’t stood up against his previous employer.  “I don’t have the money for a lawyer, and couldn’t afford to try to hold a case against them.” 

His biggest focus is on finding another job, which he’s been trying to do since the accident. “I don’t have a job right now, but not for lack of trying.”  He hasn’t had any luck, despite having use of his right hand again, and he doesn’t seem hopeful. 

“Richmond’s situation is bad, and not going to get better. The recession is based on big companies. Small people fare badly even when there is no recession.”  By small people Wickett means those without much money, who find themselves under pressure every day.  “People here who don't have enough money to buy a carton of milk because they don't have the extra two dollars are struggling no matter what.”

Wickett has more to worry about than just finding another job.  He had been on unemployment for a year previously, and now finds himself faced with a changed law that leaves him in a difficult position.  “The qualifications for unemployment changed, and I was told that I didn't qualify for what I received over a year ago.  Now the government is demanding all of the unemployment money I gave them back.  So, I owe them about 1600 dollars now.”  Though Wickett was not specific, the recent law change requires that you not be fired in order to collect benefits.  Even though he was eligible previously, when he was actually receiving benefits, he finds himself odds with a system meant to help him, and he faces debt along with his jobless position as his four-week-old baby and girlfriend look to him for support.

Despite having been in the Army and having held a number of jobs, Wickett has few choices in front of him. Currently he has only a high school diploma and focuses on the lack of money available to him as the issue.  “After high school, I joined the Army.  Honestly, a girl had broken my heart and I wanted to get away from here.  I thought the Army would let me do that as well as pay for college when I got back.”   Wickett was medically discharged from the army, and refused payment for schooling.  “I was accepted to Brown (College), I just never got to go.”

Wickett now gets odd jobs, pursuing whatever he can find.  He says he would like to try to look for work out of town, but he doesn’t have the ability.  “Richmond’s not hiring a lot of people.  The only jobs that are available are temporary ones they give out to teenagers…My dad’s been here forever, and he has to drive two hours away every day to work in Shelbyville.”  Wickett doesn’t have a dependable vehicle, and therefore has to look closer to home.

Wickett says that he would move if given the opportunity, but he doesn’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon.  “My family is here, but Richmond’s really not meant for anyone but the elderly. I’d go somewhere if I had the income and money to do it,  but like so many other people, we’re just stuck.”

Your health or your rent?

Health care makes up a large part of the problem that all cities face and is a scary additional cost to the struggle to make money.  Insurance can be difficult to get and even more difficult to pay for.  But when something dire happens, and the lives of people you love are on the line, what do you do?  Elizabeth Helton finds herself struggling with that question every day, trying as hard as she can to stay afloat with low pay and a husband who was diagnosed with cancer.

Helton hails from Fountain City,  a small town about five minutes from the edge of Richmond with a population of about 700.  The town itself consists of a single main road and does not have a grocery store, compelling its citizens to take the trip over to Richmond a number of times a week. Helton was there for 36 years before the news of her husband’s problem two years ago gave her incentive to move.

They moved to Bellingham, Wash; a long trip, but one they felt was necessary. 

“We wanted to live close to Canada,” said Helton.  “It sounds silly, but we hoped to get work there and get citizenship for James in order to receive health care,” she said.

Canada is well known for its system of health care, which is publicly funded and provides mostly free services to the population.  Though the Heltons were never able to find a way there, moving due to the cost of health care in America is a common story.  In 2006 the number of Americans moving to Canada hit a record high since the 70s, as almost 11,000 made the transition.

In order to stay on their feet in Bellingham, Helton’s husband worked the kitchen of a casino, and she cleaned houses in the area. “I would have preferred to make more, but we were doing well.  Bellingham has problems like everywhere else, but there was a strong focus on the service industry.  We would have stayed there if we could.” This industry has been growing steadily over the past two decades, and gave the city a measure of support that places like Richmond don’t have.

The Heltons were forced to move back to Fountain City after James was laid off.  The company he worked for had just moved up a class – the casino moved to a nicer building and James set up their kitchen.  A few days later, he received a phone message. 

“They told him that he was a great worker, but that he was expendable. They didn’t even have the decency to tell him to his face.”

The Heltons immediately applied for unemployment, concerned for themselves and the welfare of their 18-year-old daughter, Cheyenne.  They were refused, as James had been working in the state of Washington for under a year. “He was just three weeks shy of making the cut.  They told us there was nothing they could do.”

After that, James pounded the streets to get a job.  “He went anywhere and everywhere,” said Helton. 

Denny’s restaurant finally came through after three months of searching, but did not provide enough to keep them afloat.  “We had a place here (in Fountain City), and had to move back to it in order keep up with expenses.”

Elizabeth and James Helton

Helton is not happy with the choice they had to make.  “People with really good skills here get a fourth of the pay they should receive.  They end up working at places like Rax.” She has some experience with this herself.  Her husband was a carpenter for 20 years, and good at what he did.  Now, they look for anything they can get.  “He never gets bad reviews at his jobs.  He never even calls in sick.”  Not that that’s a real option for someone living paycheck to paycheck. 

The family still struggles to pay their bills, and though James has been through chemotherapy, he still suffers from cancer with a tumor in his chest. “He can’t even get disability.  And every time we try to apply for insurance the first question is ‘Do you have a preexisting condition?’  If you even look like you’re going to say yes, you’re denied.” 

James has not had a check-up in five years now, because the family cannot afford his hospital bills and pay rent at the same time. Though they have insurance, they are on a plan that provides for very little and has high deductible. The company where James works now, Meijer, offers insurance for its employees, and employees are not allowed to look elsewhere for insurance if it is offered by the employer.  “He’s supposed to get two CAT scans every year.  Without insurance, we would be paying an extra 6,000 dollars every year for those,” said Helton.

To add onto the burden, the Heltons can no longer have children, and this seems to be what upsets Elizabeth the most. “Fuck the Cancer Society.  I know that sounds horrible, but when a family is going through something like this, it’s their job to make sure everyone is informed.” 

Elizabeth is referring to her husband’s chemotherapy treatment, the radiation from which causes sterility.  The Cancer Society is not actually required to inform the family that they need to save sperm if they want to have children in the future, but such a matter being overlooked by both doctors and the Society can lead to such negative outcomes.

“We have to make light of everything sometimes.  It’s too awful.”

Elizabeth herself has an associate’s degree in general studies, but now works for Sodexho, the food company that provides for Earlham College.  Every day, Elizabeth runs a small coffee and snack cart that students can stop at before or after a morning class.  She plans to stay exactly where she is, even though she’s not paid well, in order to give her daughter the opportunity to go to college.  Workers at Earlham get extremely reduced tuition for their children.  It is possible that Cheyenne could go to school on grants and loans, but this would put her in a position that Elizabeth wants to avoid. 

“We’re so far in debt from James’s sickness and the simple expenses of living.  I don’t want her to be in the same boat.  She’s only 18, and she’s drowning before she even starts.”

One day the Heltons might try to leave, but Elizabeth acts doubtful about making the attempt a second time.  “It’s a possibility if the economy gets better and we can save up but I’ll probably be at retirement age by then.” 

This is a sad story, but not an uncommon one.  Though the problems of health care can be seen all over the nation, the Heltons have found themselves stuck in an area that they would prefer not to be in, simply because it’s impossible to leave.