HOW A CREDIT CARD HELPED A FAMILY IN DISTRESS

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.aflcio.org/atWork#!/quality/111281




Last year, Denise Imundo’s husband had surgery on his neck that forced him out of the job market. He went four months without work, and although he was eligible to receive disability payments, they only covered one-third of his salary. And when the holidays approached, finances were getting tight.

“We’re a working family with a mortgage, cars, two kids, bills and credit cards,” says Imundo. “Missing out on most of his pay was creating a real hardship.”

Imundo, a psychiatric social worker at Raritan Bay Mental Health Center in New Jersey and president of AFSCME Local 3460, as people in financial distress so often do, turned to her credit card to get them through the rough patch.

But instead of racking up debt, the couple’s Union Plus Credit Card (called the “AFSCME Advantage” card for AFSCME members) offers special assistance for eligible cardholders. Although her husband isn’t a union member, he’s an authorized user of the card. That, along with meeting other qualifying criteria, made the family from Spotswood, N.J., eligible to apply for a Union Plus Disability Grant.

FULL story at link.

[longship]

1. A charismatic couple. Good for them.

After all, love conquers.

R&

[Omaha Steve]

2. The card is available to almost any union member, not just AFSCME here

http://www.unioncardapply.com/

[world wide wally]

3. This reminds me of a point I always wanted to make to the "fiscally conservative"

Bullshit crowd when they talk about how the government must learn to live within it's means. They like to talk about a family sitting around the kitchen table balancing their budget for the month.

What they never mention is what portion of that goes to paying off their mortgages and credit cards? They talk as if every family lives on a pay as you go budget, but nothing is further from the truth.

We all dream about a day when we are debt free, but not many of us actually achieve that. This meme especially comes out when the gov't talks about spending money to help people. But most families in this country are much more likely to help out other family members in time of need without dwelling on where the money will come from until the time comes. saying "no" when you know you can get the money is not even an option to most people. Yet when it comes to helping out our vets, feeding our poor, or helping to rebuild one of our cities after a natural disaster, the austerity assholes always say NO, but we always have money for another war or millionaire tax break.

So,next time you hear one of them talk like that, simply extend you middle finger and scratch your nose.