“I’m proud that you got a job, but I’m not proud of who you’re working for,” my father’s mother told me when I visited their home in my cap and gown.
She was proud I accepted a job in my field in the same week as I finished my degree, but she wasn’t proud that I was working for the Democrats.
I was raised in a conservative household. I was one of the children Bob Dole picked up during a campaign stop in Scranton, PA. I marched on Washington in the March for Life three years in a row during middle school and high school. I distinctly remember starting and ending each school day listening to Rush Limbaugh. I used to be a Republican.
My father is an entrepreneur and a damn-good one at that. He is driven, calculative and persuasive. I learned from his actions and language and inherited his entrepreneurial spirit. My mother is a stay-at-work mom. She’s worked as my father’s full-time assistant for my entire life, and every day after she came home to care for our family and home. She cares for my father’s son and his mother’s sister.
I come from a family of hard working Pennsylvanians. My grandparents worked their entire lives to provide for our family. We didn’t have a lot of money, but I didn’t really know that as a child. We were the lucky ones.
For us, college was an opportunity— not some far off, unattainable dream. I was able to attend. My older brothers went. My little sister is set to go next year. We’re the lucky ones.
I am from Moscow, PA— a borough in Lackawanna County made up of just over 2,000 people and 2.8 square miles of land. The 2010 Census reports in the borough the per capita income was $32,888, with roughly 6.1% of families and 5.2% of the population living below the poverty line.
Moscow is just 17 minutes outside of Scranton, PA—the sixth largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The 2010 census reports a population total of 76,089 and 15% of those people exist below the poverty line.
I started working my first “real” job when I was 16, and babysat for 4 years before that. During high school, I launched a photography company. I took senior portraits and shot live music and band promos, which lead to a gig heading campaigns for a record label on a few tours. Despite my hard work, I felt as though I would never get out of Northeastern Pennsylvania. As a 17-year-old, I felt drained, hopeless, and trapped.
After high school, I was accepted to Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and enrolled in the professional writing program. It wasn’t long before I called Kutztown home. For the first time in my life, I felt like I had a chance to make it. I set goals and pushed pins into maps of cities I wanted to see, and planted gardens for a ton of bees.
I saw beauty in this rural town and the people in it, but I began to see the same patterns I had known at home. In our rural communities over 25% of children grow up in poverty. In some of these communities, you might have to drive over an hour to find a quality, affordable health care provider.
There’s no question as to why young people feel they have to move away from their homes in rural communities to find a sustainable job to provide for their families. There’s no jobs in or even around these rural communities, which causes the cycle to continue.
These pressures on individuals and families can be devastating. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that 23.5 million Americas currently suffer from and need treatment for addictions and substance abuse. These issues are not only problems in American cities, but in our rural communities as well. Without access to quality and affordable healthcare, people in these communities cannot receive the treatment and support they need.
These are all factors that have lead me to supporting Hillary Clinton and other democrats up and down the ticket this November. Republican candidates pay lip service to rural America and the people making up those communities every chance they get, but their policies do not reflect the needs of the people in these small towns.
Here’s what HRC wants to do for our rural communities:
1. Spurr investment to power the rural economy
2. Support family farms by raising agricultural production and profitability
3. Promote clean energy leadership and collaborative stewardship
4. Expand opportunity in rural communities across America
I've been making calls for Hillary, Katie McGinty, Josh Shapiro, Eugene Depasquale, Joe Torsella, Mike Parrish, Mary Ellen Balchunis, Rick Daugherty, Christina Hartman and Judy Schwank all day. I'm doing this because I'm worried that opportunity is slipping away from Pennsylvania working families.
I'm fighting for them because they are fighting for us — every single day. They fight to hold people's feet to the fire. They fight for more cops on Wall Street. They fight for our students. They fight for our seniors. They fight to improve the lives of millions of people.
I'm committed to doing all I can to ensure that Democrats win big this election. For the next 14 days, I'm fighting for them because they're fighting for everyone, not just those at the top.
We are stronger together. Knock on doors, make phone calls, host events, and talk to your friends and family about the importance of making sure our rural communities aren’t forgotten.