A few weeks ago I ran across a New York Times article describing the specific challenges of the self-employed in today's tumultuous economy. When times were good and clients were paying up, the freedom and flexibility of self-employment seduced thousands of now-yoga instructors, chefs, personal trainers and the like. But now that wealthy clients and corporations have tightened their belts, the freelance life (without job security or health insurance) has lost a quite a bit of its luster.
The yoga instructor profiled here finds herself in line for food stamps at the end of the article. And that's a situation that we're seeing more and more at Modest Needs. Graphic designers, photographers, beauticians, and countless other self-employed individuals are waking up one morning a few hundred dollars away from eviction and even homelessness. Just take a few minutes to browse our applications, and I'm certain you'll run across a few.
If you know of a struggling self-employed person faced with a short-term financial crisis, please don't hesitate to send them to Modest Needs. We'd love to be able to help.