Same

This is the reality for lower enlisted service members across this country. This is what the current administration is looking to strip away with their proposed federal aid freeze. They will take food and formula out of millions of households, including those who are serving this country.

🧵/6

I was neither a “welfare queen” or a “government moocher.” I was a service member trying to provide for my family on the pittance that an E4 made at the time.

I wasn’t alone either. Every soldier from E1 to E5 in my unit with a family was on WIC. I even helped a few get signed up for it.

🧵/5

The one thing that did help us was WIC. With our WIC benefits, we were able to keep formula and fresh, healthy food in the house that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford. I’m not sure we would have survived without it.

🧵/4

We did everything we could. My wife was a coupon and sale wizard, often hitting 3 or 4 stores on grocery day. I donated plasma 2x a week, every week. We almost never ate out. We only had 1 vehicle that my father gifted us. Shoestring budget would be an understatement.

🧵/3

We barely scraped by. We earned $200 annually above the line for food stamps. I was the sole provider and my wife was a SAH mom. She could have worked, but anything she would earn would go straight to paying for child care.

🧵/2