The Official Modest Needs Blog

Stepping Up for Rural America

According to the Foundation Center, former President Bill Clinton said recently, "Why do you think people in rural America are so dismal? Because they think that tomorrow is going to be just like yesterday. It's not because they're poor, but because they're stuck in a rut they can't get out of." 

For so many of the applicants who arrive at Modest Needs' door, that rut is the result of a meager, nearly-impossible-to-live-on wage. Furthermore, rural life presents its own particular set of challenges for low-income families, like limited public transportation. With no buses or trains to fall back on, for example, an unexpected car repair can turn catastrophic in no time at all.

I wholeheartedly agree with President Clinton that the families living in our most rural parts deserve a hand up -- and as much financial assistance as we can muster. And that's why I'm extremely proud to report that thousands of Modest Needs grants have gone to recipients living in the countryside. Just take a moment to view our list of pre-qualified applications, and you'll see towns the likes of Copperas Cove, TX, Gaffney, SC, and Fayetteville, PA. 

Sometimes, the most moving applications come from the tiniest little points on the map.

Preparing an Emergency Fund

If there's one lesson I've learned here at Modest Needs, it's the need for disaster preparedness -- the financial kind, that is. I've heard stories from too many responsible, financially secure people who've suddenly lost close-to-everything due to a health diagnosis, a divorce, or a layoff. This is when living paycheck-to-paycheck with no cushion in your savings can become a VERY dangerous situation.

Which is why I thought you might want to check out this useful article from Money Magazine on 5 Steps to Building an Emergency Fund. Hopefully, you won't need one. But there's a reason why someone coined the phrase "just in case." Even if you can only manage to put a few dollars away each month, that's still something.

The Toughest Job of All...

May be the job hunt itself.

According to a recent NBC News piece, this summer presents job-seekers with one of the most difficult markets in decades. In June alone, the U.S. saw 62,000 jobs lost. More than 1.6 million people have been out of work for at least 6 months. And as Modest Needs applicants know, it's often not for lack of trying.

Let's say you're laid off from your job. (No stretch of the imagination required. Every day the news media reports more layoffs by well-known U.S. companies.) You've got a mortgage to pay. You need health insurance for your family. You spend your days networking, researching, writing cover letters, interviewing. But there just aren't that many jobs out there right now -- and you've joined a massive pool of other well-qualified people out there fighting for one. So you take a part-time hourly job in the meantime just to pay the bills.

Then you get sick. Or your spouse gets sick. Or your child. Finally, miraculously, you land a new job, but you have a month or two before your first paycheck hits, and you've got medical bills to pay. And all of a sudden you're at risk of losing your home. Your only hope is to appeal to strangers (aka Modest Needs donors) to help you get through the most trying few weeks of your life.

It doesn't seem outside the realm of possibility, does it?

The easy thing is to look at Modest Needs applicants as "other" people. The harder thing is to realize that in a lot of ways they're exactly like you -- just with a run of very, very bad luck.

The OTHER Healthcare Crisis

If the U.S. instituted universal healthcare, what issue would you be most excited about? According to Harvard researchers, the most popular answer to that question was dental insurance.

Surprised? We weren't.

The number of Modest Needs applications for dental work climbs every day. Many applicants have suffered through tooth pain for months, unable to pay for root canals, caps, and the removal of very dangerous abscesses. Not to sound like your friendly dental hygienist here, but dental health is crucial to good health in general. And when you can't afford to visit the dentist, tooth pain can snowball into much more complicated issues.

A few weeks ago, CBS News ran an in-depth piece on the dental care crisis in the U.S. and cited that 1 million U.S. citizens lack dental insurance. CBS profiled a mobile dentist service that serves children in Manhattan, and workers there claimed that adults were "banging down the door" for help. The piece also mentioned two other frightening statistics: that tooth decay is the #1 chronic disease among children, resulting in a whopping 51 million school hours lost.

Tragically, for both adults and children without dental insurance, there just aren't very many organizations to turn to. I'm proud to say that Modest Needs is one of them. The following applicants are experiencing this dental insurance crisis firsthand. You can help end their pain with any amount of donation.

Visit To The Dentist- Root Canal
Dentures for Veteran
Dental Bill for Single Father

As always, thank you for your support!

Gas Prices Hit Rural Communities the Hardest

According to the New York Times, "Anthony Clark, a farm worker from Tchula [Mississippi], says he prays every night for lower gasoline prices."

Is Anthony being a bit dramatic, perhaps? Actually, no. The monthly cost of gas in rural parts -- particularly the Southeast -- is now surpassing what many families pay for housing and food. The combination of low-income workers' long commutes (thanks to a fledgling job market) and nonexistent public transportation makes for massive gas consumption.

The average U.S. family devotes 4% of its monthly income to fuel. In rural areas, like certain counties in the Mississippi Delta, that number spikes to 13%.

As consumers, we're completely helpless when it comes to the price of gas. They keep jacking it up, and we keep buying it. Gas is, in fact, so expensive, that Modest Needs applicants hardly ever mention what a strain it's putting on their finances. It's just a given. Everyone is suffering.

But still, there are those of you searching out the cheapest tank of gas available in your area and donating the little bits that you save every time you fill up. And that, my friends, is courageous generosity at its finest.

How Much Does it Cost to Raise a Child?

Here's the short answer: a whole lot. And don't Modest Needs applicants know it.

This fascinating MSN article charts what Americans reported spending on their children in a Department of Labor Survey in 1990-92. And it doesn't simply feel like kids are expensive. They truly are -- racking up bills to the tune of $125,000, just through age 18, and much more in some cases. The exorbitant figures in this chart don't even accommodate for the kinds of unlucky circumstances that many our applicants face as parents -- a child's serious illness, for instance.

You don't have to look hard through our applications to find parents in need of your support. It took me all of 5 seconds to pull these examples. It could take you all of 5 minutes to change their lives forever.

College Prep Program, Autistic Son
Need Beds for my Children

Bringing Home the Bacon, but not the Roast Beef

Imagine working a full-time job, but having only $25 a week to spend on groceries. Now imagine that your $25 needs to feed a family of six. It seems impossible, doesn't it? But that's the predicament faced by Sandra Walerski, a disabled mom profiled in this piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer on the plight of the working poor.

Every week, Sandra skimps her way through a discount grocery store, buying only the cheapest food she can find. Like many Modest Needs applicants, she doesn't qualify for food stamps. But she doesn't have enough to afford a roast beef, either.

The saddest part is that Sandra's story is all too common around Philadelphia and across the U.S. Like thousands of others, she feels "invisible," like she's in some sort of economic purgatory.

But she's not invisible. Our donors prove that every day. Even just the simple (and free!) act of telling a friend about Modest Needs' mission sheds much-needed light upon stories like Sandra's. With your support, we believe that one day, buying groceries won't have to be such a heartbreaking, and impossible, task.

We're Doing the Fighting for this War Veteran . . .

Mark was an Infantry Unit Officer in Iraq. He's 41 years old. And he's one of so many veterans who've returned home with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TMI).

Mark's accustomed to putting in 110%. But with a delay on his VA disability check, Mark and his family found themselves in a bind that even the most resourceful person couldn't overcome. Specifically, he and his wife were living in unsanitary conditions while trying to care for his newborn daughter. Furthermore, Mark was having a difficult time getting to the hospital for treatment of his multitude of health problems -- Hepatitis C, spinal injuries and tuberculosis all in addition to his brain injury. It took him DAYS to write out his Modest Needs application because his brain is so scattered.

Last week, I'm proud to say that you all stepped up to help this deserving family. And with the money you donated, they'll be moving into a new apartment right across the street from the VA hospital. Mark won't be sitting at home when he really needs medical treatment. He and his wife will be raising their daughter in a clean, safe environment.

There's so little we can do to say "thank you" to the men and women of the military who risk their lives every day. But you've found a way. And in case you're interested, there are plenty more military families for whom your spare change could make all the difference:

Car Repair for Military Family
Mortgage Payment-Military Mom
Utility Bill For A Veteran

When a Pay Cut is a Stroke of Luck

Headline: When a Pay Cut is a Stroke of Luck

It's the goal of almost every working person out there: MAKE MORE MONEY. After all, a higher salary = a better ability to provide for yourself and your family. Right?

Well, no. Not always.

As so many low-income workers have learned the hard way, earning too much money can actually be detrimental to them financially, especially when it comes to insurance coverage. Take Crystal Currie, the single mom profiled in this LA Times article. Crystal was 16 when she gave birth to her daughter, and at first the both of them qualified for state-funded insurance. But when Crystal got a job and started making upwards of $34,000, she lost that health insurance... but still couldn't afford the $200/month it would cost her to pay for her own.

During the time she was uninsured, Crystal ended up having to fork over $2,000 for an unexpected trip to the emergency room. Now, "fortunately," Crystal says, "there were pay cuts," and she's back on government assistance.

Here at Modest Needs, you help people like Crystal all the time -- people teetering on the edge of government assistance. And with your donations, you give them an option that Crystal just doesn't have: true self-sufficiency, and the ability to overcome an emergency healthcare cost. So that they don't feel the need to resort to government assistance. When their well-deserved raise does come around, they're nothing but ecstatic.

The American Cancer Society... Stepping Up

I can't tell you how many applications we receive every week from low-income cancer patients unable to make ends meet because they're either 1) uninsured; 2) without compensation while they undergo treatment; or 3) faced with a slew of co-payments and fees that their insurance company just plain refuses to cover. There are amazingly few resources out there for individuals in these predicaments.

Today, however, I was thrilled to read in the New York Times that the American Cancer Society is ready to draw attention to the thousands of low-income individuals unable to obtain sufficient cancer treatment.

Although research, education, and prevention are the American Cancer Society's primary missions, its new $15-million ad campaign shines a spotlight on the consequences of inadequate health coverage. As John R. Seffrin, chief executive of the Cancer Society, put it, advances in prevention and research would have little lasting impact if Americans could not afford cancer screening and treatment.

Almost every month we end up funding at least a few cancer patients in need of a one-time financial boost. Most recently, our donors have helped a man who needed to travel to a specialist to diagnose his cancer , and a cancer patient whose medical bills kept him from affording his gas bill.

Indeed, the Modest Needs community is one of the few places where financially strapped cancer patients can find solace. And if you're interested in lending a hand-up to applicants in this situation, spend a few minutes browsing applications, or take a look at these applications up for funding now:

Apt Fee During Cancer Treatment
Mortgage Behind Due to Cancer
Need Help with Rent Sept 2007

And thanks to the American Cancer Society for highlighting one significant aspect of the national healthcare crisis impacting low-income families everywhere.