Barbara Peden, 56, of Clairton, Pa., sits in her car as she waits for a weekly food distribution on October 29, 2020 at the Clairton Family Center in Clairton, Pa. Peden arrived hours before the distribution began to secure her place in line. 'In recent weeks it has become increasingly difficult to get something. Sometimes the parking lot is just full," she says. Often there is not enough food for everyone waiting.
Peden, who lives on disability and relies on the food to survive says, “I live in poverty. Without this food I would be hungry.” She is voting for Joe Biden in the upcoming election. "Trump has made our lives unbearable. He's destroying America. The residents of Pennsylvania won't forget that when they vote,” she says.
Poverty
Decline of Small Town Life /
“I’ll probably be one of the next ones to go,” says Lee Goldthwaite, 79, the caretaker of the Sheffield Township cemetery, as he walks through the tombstones.
Sheffield, the small Warren County town that sits along the edge of the Allegheny National Forest, shares a similar story to other rural Pennsylvania towns as the number of deaths outpace births and population loss accelerates. The town, which once was a hub for timber had the largest sawmill east of the Mississippi River, has lost nearly a quarter of the population it had 20 years ago. Many expect the decline of small-town life to be a topic in this presidential election.
Along Main Street, few businesses remain. The local bank and liquor store have closed, the town’s daycare shuttered as the number of children dwindled to the single digits. The local ambulance service was discontinued, and the town’s beloved Johnny Appleseed Festival doesn’t have enough volunteers or money to continue this year. When asked if the town has a doctor, Goldthwaite points through the cemetery. “The last doctor we had is buried right up the hill,” he says. While he sees the town’s decline firsthand, Goldthwaite isn’t ready to give up, “we’re gonna make it work,” he says.
Published in @washingtonpost.
Great-Grandparent Caregiver /
Read more about Patricia and her raising her great-grandchildren in the Arizona Daily Star.
Monet Spencer /
Monet Spencer, 18, smiles as she is photographed in her Hill District apartment. Spencer was left homeless after her mother passed away in February 2016, leaving her and her twin brother to care for themselves. Spencer now lives on her own, in a subsidized apartment. Spencer attends Brashear High School and was recently accepted to Carlow University.
Monet Spencer, 18, walks from Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5 after tutoring young elementary students on February 13, 2017. Thirty percent of Spencer's salary from her tutoring job helps pay for her apartment at Action Housing's My Place, which provides housing and intensive case management services to young people who have aged out of the foster care system in Allegheny County and are either homeless or at risk homelessness.
Monet Spencer reads to elementary students at Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5 on Feb. 8, 2017. She tutors at the school Mondays though Thursdays for a job through the Neighborhood Learning Alliance.
Monet Spencer looks at a game with Tya Carter, 10, as Aminyah Dooley, 5, looks on after an after-school tutoring session at Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5. Spencer earns about $100 every two weeks from the tutoring job. She pays $50 a month in rent.
Monet Spencer, 18, left, sits with her best friend, Maya Smallwood, 18, at her North Side home where Maya and her mother took Spencer in to live after her mother died and she was left homeless.
This is Monet Spencer's home. Here, she's looking through videos on her computer. She uses her phone to connect to the Internet through a hotspot. Spencer and her twin brother were considered homeless after their mother died. Spencer eventually acquired an apartment through ACTION-Housing's MyPlace Youth program. "It was the happiest day of my life," Spencer says about getting her own apartment.
Monet Spencer, 18, plays her flute during her band class at Brashear High School on February 16, 2017.
Even after losing her mother and becoming homeless, Monet Spencer continued to make it to classes at Brashear High School. She was recently accepted to Carlow University.
Monet Spencer, 18, works on a computer during a study hall at Brashear High School on February 16, 2017.
Monet Spencer, 18, walks home from her job tutoring at Pittsburgh Miller PreK-5 in Pittsburgh's Hill District on February 13, 2017.
Monet Spencer, 18, was left homeless after her mother passed away in February 2016, leaving her and her twin brother to care for themselves. Spencer now lives on her own, in a subsidized apartment. Spencer attends Brashear High School and was recently accepted to Carlow University. You can read Monet's story at PublicSource.