Night falls, but the worries about bills never sleep.
Lisa Meazler, a 43-year-old nonprofit worker from Binghamton, New York, isn’t technically poor — at least by the government’s standards. But in reality? Every day she feels trapped in a cruel system where “not poor” still means barely surviving.

$37,500 a year — sounds like a decent salary, right? For Meazler, it’s a cunning trap. She can’t afford family vacations, and her daughter complains: “Why can’t mom make a ‘normal dinner’ like other families?” These questions cut deep, and many nights she cries silently, drowning in frustration.

Debt piled up — a life with no way out

Credit card limits maxed out, phone bills stacking up, and $865 monthly mortgage payments crush her under endless anxiety. Sure, she gets $253 in food assistance — but it’s a mere drop in a desert of expenses. “Sometimes I wonder, what did I do wrong?” — a heartbreaking question stabbing her soul.

American kids — not just Lisa’s struggle

Nearly 10 million American children live in poverty — the highest since 2018. Tens of millions more are just a step away from the poverty line. As Covid relief programs ended and inflation devoured everything, families like Meazler’s are falling deeper into an abyss.

“Support cliffs” — a broken system

Cutbacks and tighter eligibility rules aren’t just cruel — they backfire, pushing already struggling workers further down. Ironically, even a tiny raise means losing vital benefits — trapping families in a vicious cycle with no escape.

Felica Allen’s story — a haunting example

Felica Allen, a single mother of four working night shifts, earns a “record high” wage of $22.90/hour in 2024 — about $39,000 annually. But even this barely lifts her above poverty. Worse, when her wages increased, her food assistance was slashed from nearly $1,000 to $564 — “I went to work that night in tears,” she says.

Allen moved into a rental costing $1,950/month — despite Section 8 housing aid, she pays $1,200 out-of-pocket. After taxes, she’s left with only $2,400–$2,600/month to cover $162 car payments, $287 insurance, $400 internet and phone bills, and up to $500 electric bills due to past dues. The rest? Gone on essentials like toiletries, gasoline, and groceries — things she can’t live without but can barely afford.

She even had to reduce her work hours to regain a $220/month food benefit — not to improve her life, but just to survive this cruel support system.

Local economy shattered — fallout from IBM’s departure

Broome County, once prosperous thanks to IBM, is now a ghost town. IBM’s gradual pullout, culminating in the demolition of its headquarters in 2023, gutted the local economy, leaving the community impoverished and aid programs underfunded.

The “new normal” is a nightmare

Child poverty rates in Broome shot up to over one-quarter in 2022 and remain dire in 2023. Food banks processed over 92,000 requests for help in 2024 — nearly double 2019 numbers. Rental assistance funds ran dry even before winter arrived.

The heartbreaking truth: “Working but getting nothing”

Meazler, Allen, and millions like them are working every day but getting nothing to live on. “Working but getting nothing,” Meazler confesses — a phrase that can make anyone’s heart shatter.

An unjust system crushing childhoods, stealing futures and hope

Never before has “earning just enough not to be poor” meant such relentless torment. Social safety nets meant to protect mothers, children, and low-wage workers have become traps, exposing the unbearable burden of living costs and an unfair economic system.

This isn’t a personal story — it’s a nightmare lived daily by millions of families. While officials tighten rules, inflation rises, and aid shrinks, despair spreads like wildfire through the heart of society.