Hard Times
Dear Editor: My name is Lynnda Strong. I am 56 years old, and have a BA in recreation and leisure studies and a certificate in outdoor studies from California State University Long Beach in 1979. I have had a great deal of experience over the years, both as a professional and as a volunteer, mostly with planning, organizing and implementing diverse programs for youths with a variety of organizations.
I moved here to Sitka in 2004 from Ohio to go to Sheldon Jackson College to get my teaching degree so I could become an elementary school teacher. I was fortunate to find a three-bedroom trailer where I could live with my two cats for $900/month rent. In 2007, I finished my junior year at SJC, but the college closed, and I was unable to finish my degree. I have been unemployed ever since. At first I wasn’t too worried, because I had enough money to live on. But as the years went by, I realized that I was going to need to get a job to make some money. There were very few jobs here, at least not much that I was qualified or had the experience for. I looked online and in the newspaper, but all of the jobs I applied for I either never heard back from or didn’t get.
Earlier this year I went to the local Public Assistance office to see what they could do. After filling out a lot of paperwork, I was able to get food stamps at the end of April, as well as some other assistance, and had a phone interview with Social Security in Juneau to see whether I would qualify for disability, Medicaid and other benefits (my vision has gotten worse over the years, and in the early 1980s I had two malignant brain tumors). Although I have recovered from them, there may still be some lingering side effects, such as short-term memory loss. I am still waiting to hear the results of the interview.
Meanwhile, the bills kept coming, and I got two eviction notices from my landlord because I didn’t have enough money to pay my rent.
I have gotten some donations from friends, and the eviction notices were invalid, because one had the wrong address for me, and one spelled my name wrong. I worked with Brian Massey at the Alaska Housing Authority to get on the list for housing. But it still hasn’t been enough. I have had to call organizations that I used to give a small donation to each month and tell them I will no longer be able to do this.
A couple of weeks ago I got another eviction notice with all of the correct information, and I will be evicted from my home of nine years on Monday, Aug. 12. Unfortunately, the Salvation Army and Brian Massey can no longer help with housing or other assistance, because the government sequestration has cut so much money out of it that there are no longer enough funds for grants and other assistance.
I may also lose my food stamps if Congress doesn’t do something about the Farm Bill. I am now looking at having to have an eviction notice sale (like a garage sale, except everything must go) next week, or as I have been calling it, a Sell My Life Sale, because everything I have ever done, everywhere I have ever lived, everything I have ever known, will have to go; things from when I was growing up, things that my mom once owned and I took with me when she died in 2007 and my sister and I had to clean out her condo, things from when I was in the Girl Scouts, when I was on a peace march in 1986, when I worked with the AIDS memorial quilt, trips to Kenya and New Zealand – scrapbooks, photos, books, music, clothing, Longaberger baskets, and so many things that have been a part of my life – gone.
And my dear sweet cat and I have no place to live. There are no words to say how I am feeling right now – scared, frustrated. How did this happen? I want to thank all of the people and friends who have given me donations, thoughts and prayers, ideas about what to do. Please help me out, whether it is in a donation, a job, coming to the sale next week; Sitka has become my home, and my volunteer involvement with so many of you has been so important to me.
Thank you. My contact information is 2309 Halibut Point Road #34, 747-5098, lynndastrong@gmail.com.
Lynnda Strong, Sitka
