Picture of the Corona Virus
Yesterday, one of my neighbors came home after an exhaustive search for groceries to stock the pantry in preparation for a self-imposed casual quarantine. She described the mayhem she encountered; the long lines, empty shelves and packed parking lot.
All my senior neighbors are assailed with various forms of auto-immune disorders, and they cannot afford to contract a dangerous virus on top of it. Even the "common" cold can devolve into uncommon, serious illness and possibly death.
Many of the folks that are on the low-income program in this apartment complex are single, disabled seniors living on whatever social security they've managed to accumulate after many years of working. Because we have spent a lifetime working and paying bills, we have paid "too much" into social security and now, although our income is very low ($1100 a month, on average) we fall between the cracks, when it comes to government help. We don't get any. No food stamps. No discounts on our utility bills. We get a small discount on our rent, through a city program, and that is IT.
I have tried to explain the reality of this situation to people who sincerely believe that all disabled people are sucking at the teat of the state. I had one wealthy woman tell me she believed that "the government" had to pay all my expenses, including the moving truck to get me from one apartment to another. Many people on social media have expressed the firm conviction that the disability rolls are besieged with massive fraud. They have no idea how terribly difficult it is to be accepted onto the disability program, but they don't let facts keep them from blabbing their theory widely. Their toxic ignorance is widespread.
We all know that we are supposed to be kind to the old and the sick, but if the extreme right wingers can claim we are not actually sick but are "faking it", then they will have an excuse for putting barriers up to anything that might help us. They applaud Trump's efforts to cut the food stamp rolls, which are already inadequate to meet the need.
The fact is that the U.S. does a very poor job of taking care of its disabled and elderly citizens and no one should be surprised that many of us have had to resort to begging by starting Go Fund Me campaigns and Amazon "wish lists" to make up the shortfall.
Widely available statistics, if anyone should decide to simply Google the facts, demonstrate that the U.S. pays far less to its seniors than other countries. We are number 25 on the chart, far below Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, The Slovak Republic (!), Greece, Latvia, Czech Republic, and KOREA. Check out this chart and the
ARTICLE ON THE CENTER ON BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES WEB PAGE
Ironically, because of our illnesses and allergies, our diets need to be a nutrient dense as possible. In addition, speaking for myself, I am terribly allergic to preservatives and pesticides. They cause me to have dangerous asthma attacks.
This may not sound like a big deal, but I was recently given some old yarn and, when I started crocheting with it, I suddenly could not breathe. This is why I don't typically accept yarn that has been opened and sitting in someone's house for a year or two or three. I rather like breathing.
Because of the asthma, the corona virus could be deadly for me.
When this Covid virus emergency settled in, and I started hearing about people deciding to "self-quarantine," I realized that I have NO "emergency" supplies at all. I already have trouble keeping food in my house for my monthly needs. This month, I had to buy eyeglasses, and the money had to come out of my food budget because I do not have discretionary income.
Now, here I am, very low on funds, unable to stand in the long lines at the grocery store, and needing to get some emergency supplies into the house. The other disabled ladies in my apartment complex are likewise situated.
Clearly, it is time to launch another Amazon food list.
My aim is to try to get enough supplies in the house to share among the other disabled senior ladies who live here. Amazon has my address and will ship to me direct. They always let me know when a parcel is coming, and I am typically home all the time anyway.
If you are able to help, we would all appreciate it.
AMAZON WISH LIST FOR FOOD
If you have any questions about this list or any preferences we might have, just leave a comment on this blog post OR send me a message on my Facebook messenger space.
TO GET TO MY FACEBOOK PAGE, CLICK HERE.
Thank you, in advance, for your help, and God bless. I will report on donations received in another post.
God bless us all - stay safe out there, people! And if you can stay home - do it!
Silver Rose
Sannyasini Kaliprana
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