In response to “Public assistance program broken” (letter to the editor, July 20, Auburn Reporter):

My initial response to your letter was anger, and then sadness that a person could have such lack of empathy for another fellow human being. People, for whatever reason, find themselves in need of public assistance. No one wants to be confronted with that reality. But it happens more and more these days, and it happens to people who work and have families and are trying to live their lives as best they can.

More than one in five children in America live in households that struggle to put food on the table. That’s 16.2 million children. Hunger is rooted in poverty.

We live in the wealthiest nation on the planet, yet 15.1 percent of people living here live in poverty. It must be demoralizing to find oneself in need of public assistance.

A family of three has to make under approximately $18,500 per year to be eligible for food stamps. Ask yourself if you could sustain yourself and your family on that amount of income.

Is it fair to expect a person in poverty to also be subjected to a drug test? Would we as a nation deny a person in need of food just because they didn’t pass a drug test? I would hope not. Does a person’s drug addiction negate their need for sustenance?

We as a society need to recognize the growing disparity amongst ourselves. Everyone wants to have the chance to work and provide for themselves and their families. Declining wages and lack of good paying jobs are compounding this problem. Poverty is growing, and we as a nation need to find ways to reverse that.

Let’s not judge people in need; let’s help them regain their dignity. Let’s fight for family wage jobs. And in the process, let’s care for those in need. Please know a nation is only as strong as its weakest link.

– Tamara Stinnette