“I’ve never asked for help before,” said the woman who had come to Trinity Church seeking assistance with her power bill after referral by a counselor.  She needed to pay something, anything, to keep the lights from being cut off.  She is a working class woman in a city that still is hemorrhaging at the seams. For many, daily existence here is a down-right bizarre mix of trying to live normally while knowing nothing is normal except for the dysfunction. 

I met two women today. Both with jobs – though their hours were fluctuating depending on business, and consequently their income was unpredictable at best. Both with families and similar stories about fleeing New Orleans just before Katrina (both worked up until the day before the storm hit). And, strikingly, both asked, “Do you know where I can get any other assistance?”  They were just trying to make ends meet and couldn’t do it without a little help. 

My host told me that before the storm they usually saw people off the street, or just barely off the street, but now they almost exclusively see working class women and families, most employed, but not back up to full time.

These encounters have driven home to me how important it is that this church has the resources to offer every little bit of help it can. Even when it is just half of a family’s power bill, it is clear that a little is going a long way.