I struggle to put food on the table for my daughter and gas in my car to continue working. I do not expect a handout, but what can you do when you cannot afford to move, and you cannot afford to live? I would take a second job, but cannot afford to pay someone to watch my toddler on the weekends (by the time I paid the sitter the money would be gone, plus more). The income level is based on gross, before they tax it, before the 300 a check garneshment comes out. I am doing the right thing, and it is killing me. I had social workers tell me to take a lower paid job to get assitance. Does that make sense? I have worked hard all my life, and I am not asking for a luxurious life. I just wish I could worry less about feeding and housing my daughter.

The idea of a “living wage” that SF instituted was for exactly this… to give working people enough money so they wouldn’t need government help. Yes, housing prices all over California are insane, but if people refused to pay that much, they’d come down.