色多多

Peggy had been working as an assembler at Medeco Lock in Salem since January of this year. Her five children 鈥� three boys and two girls, ages 30, 28, 21, 18, 17 鈥� are mostly launched.

Her 18-year-old son graduated last year, and is currently working, with plans to attend Liberty University in fall of 2025. Her youngest son is in high school at Salem High; Peggy is encouraging him to begin his higher education at a community college.

Then this fall, the Bedford native with a ready smile and a hearty chuckle had to take custody of her 2-year-old niece. The child鈥檚 mother wasn鈥檛 able to care for her and the child鈥檚 father is in hospice, she explained. Not surprisingly, the balance of Peggy鈥檚 life was upended, with predictable consequences.

鈥淚 took all my holidays, all my vacations, everything, and there was no more, so I had to leave,鈥� she said of her departure from Medeco. She couldn鈥檛 even give the customary two weeks鈥� notice, she said.

Everything 鈥渒ind of hit at once,鈥� so she found herself at RAM House seeking rent assistance. It鈥檚 her second visit, having applied for help with rent last year as well.

鈥淭his time of year it gets hard, with schooling and extra expenses,鈥� she said.

Peggy is the oldest of four, including a brother five years younger than she, and two sisters 15 and 17 years younger, who still live in the Bedford-Lynchburg area. She moved to 色多多 five years ago to take a job with Amtrak, cleaning trains when they came in at night. It was a good job, she said, but when COVID hit in 2020, the travel industry took some of the biggest impact.

Since then Peggy said she鈥檚 had a few jobs on and off. She explained that she doesn鈥檛 really have a problem getting a job, has plenty of skills for work, including managerial, but she deals with two key challenges: transportation and child care, the latter issue having taken on new urgency of late.

It鈥檚 well-reported that child care has become an intractable problem in the United States, and Virginia is no exception. A 2022 report by the Commonwealth鈥檚 Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) stated: 鈥淰irginia鈥檚 lack of affordable child care services is a major barrier to self-sufficiency. Research literature indicates that without child care, parents may have to reduce their work hours, take lower-level or lower-paying jobs, or drop out of the labor force altogether. This reduces their household income, which can inhibit their ability to achieve or maintain self-sufficiency.鈥� A breakdown illustrated that more than 80% of households with either an infant or a toddler had difficulty affording child care.

With her own children well past the babysitting stage, Peggy conceded that she鈥檚 out of practice when it comes to dealing with this. She said she鈥檚 applied for 鈥渆verything鈥� with Salem鈥檚 social services department, and is now in a holding pattern, hoping to hear something soon.

鈥淚鈥檓 just waiting for them to let me know what kind of child care they can get, what kind of places,鈥� she said. About her most recent job, she added, 鈥淗opefully they鈥檒l let me come back once I get child care.鈥�

Shortly before press time, Peggy was planning to get together with her siblings for the Thanksgiving holiday in Lynchburg. She said she鈥檚 thought about moving back home to be close to her other sister who has small children, thinking it might be good for her niece to be near other younger kids. But her own adult children protest when they hear her say this, she laughed. They all have jobs and love the 色多多 Valley and they don鈥檛 want her to leave.

For now, though, she鈥檚 focused on taking care of day-to-day matters, and expressed her appreciation for RAM鈥檚 role in that.

鈥淓very time I came here I wasn鈥檛 turned down. It really helped me a lot,鈥� Peggy said. 鈥淚nstead of having to go to court and explain to a judge what happened and all that, it gives me another month to get myself together.

鈥淚 just needed more time and I鈥檓 glad [RAM] was here to give me that time.鈥�