Guest post by Sarah Jae Blake, author of Sketches
I’ve never known what it was like to be poor, or to not be able to afford food. That was before I met my friend Ellie. Her family had an extremely low income, and they could barely afford food or basic luxuries that we all take for granted. People never seem to care about the poor unless they actually know someone who is poor. Nothing truly opens your eyes more than having a loved one who is experiencing poverty. Anyways, Ellie’s family could barely pay the rent on their small, two bedroom apartment, and this is when their landlord decided to raise the price.
She raised it 100 dollars, which may not seem like much, but to a family that was struggling to make the previous payment, it could be the difference in being homeless or having a roof over their heads. I remember all the times when my friend would call me, crying her eyes out because they weren’t able to make that month’s payment. I remember all the times I brought food to school so that she wouldn’t go hungry, because her family had no food in the house. Her family tried reasoning with their landlord, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was if she got her money, not the people living in that small building. It amazed me how heartless some people could be towards them. Their grandmother even refused to help take the kids to school. I guess that’s why I’m writing this article, I want to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
It’s been almost 6 months since that awful time, and Ellie and her family now have to move across the country to a more affordable area to live. I never really cared about the poor, but now I would do anything in my power to keep other people from having to experience this pain. Because of a careless woman, I will not see my best friend of 5 years again. As I sit here typing this, I can’t help but think that if someone else had just cared a little more, then none of this would have happened.
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Books by Sarah Jae Blake
Sketches ~ View on Bookshelves | View on Amazon