"This young guy who has been coming to mow my yard ended up speaking to me today about his mother’s battle with pancreatic cancer and diabetes. He told me he doesn’t know what’s going on but she’s been mean lately so to get out of the house he offered to beautify the property.
He asked me about the Coronavirus and said, “It’s just like pneumonia, right?” I told him it’s worse than pneumonia. We talked about it. He was under the impression we’re in our second wave, I told him this wave is the first and lasts until August.
He told me he hasn’t gotten his stimulus, hasn’t filed taxes in 4 years, his mother hasn’t gotten her stimulus (on SSI/SSD) he doesn’t have an ID or a bank account (can’t open a bank account without an ID). He formerly lived in Ritchie County. Has been using the Ritchie county address for food stamps and Medicaid. I told him to switch it to Wood County, because it’ll help me help him get his social security card. I told him I’d help him get his ID, help register him to vote (proof of address), and help him and his family navigate getting their Stimulus. And through those interactions, I can assess what additional needs they may have and navigate obtaining more resources.
I stood there and thought about how they’re lost in the chaos of everything going on on a micro and macro level. The family keeps to themselves. The guy is a really good kid. He showed up today to mow early before the weather turns bad again for a few more days.
Edit: didn’t know he was still on the property. He’s cleaning out gutters of my house and just asked me if I had a bucket so he doesn’t make a mess."
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