Growing Up Poor
I'm going to let Eric Griego, a progressive candidate for Congress in New Mexico, explain this one himself:
"I grew up and I still live in the Barelas neighborhood, a working-class Hispanic area near downtown Albuquerque. The average household income in the area is about $20,000.
"My brother, two older sisters and I were raised by my single mom. My mom was a housewife for 10 years, until my father left her in 1969. Then she had to join the workforce, with only a high school diploma.
"My mom had to work two minimum wage jobs to get by. She was a secretary by day, and she worked as a cocktail waitress at the Disabled American Veterans hall on weekends. We all worked from the age of 13, or younger, to help support ourselves and the family. I sold newspapers in front of churches and intersections. My brother and sisters worked in restaurants.
"We had only three rooms at home. My sisters slept in the same bed. My brother and I slept on couches in the living room.
"Even with all of us working, we still had to rely on food stamps and free school lunches to have enough to eat. We wore second-hand shoes, collected in local shoe drives. Our only Christmas gift was a basket from the Rotary Club.
"In 1970, my mom enrolled me in the Headstart Program. That changed both my life and hers. I learned to read and write, and my mother could focus on work, knowing I was in a safe place.
"Thanks to state schools, my sisters and I became the first ones in our family to finish college, and even obtain graduate degrees. We all were able to do that only because we received scholarships, Pell Grants and student loans.
"My personal values come from watching my mother struggle. Despite all of her hard work, and all of our hard work starting at a very young age, we would not have made it without society's investments in us, through programs like Headstart, public schools, public colleges, Pell Grants, etc.
"My mom was able to retire, thanks only to Social Security, modest savings, and help from us. She had decent healthcare, thanks to Medicare, which she had paid into her whole working life.
"My mom died ten years ago, but in the last years of life she lived with dignity, and love.
"As an elected official I have always fought, and I always will fight, for families like mine."
The latest poll shows Eric Griego TIED in next Tuesday's Democratic primary in New Mexico. Your support can help to put him in Congress.
We're all in this together.
Courage,
Alan Grayson
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