Earlier in this kit, we read about Renee Hummel stretching her grocery dollars and her family’s food, including diluting her daughter’s formula. In Bread for the World Institute’s 2008 Hunger Report, Working Harder for Working Families, she goes into detail about the things she had to do to put food on her family’s table.
Hummel, who lives in Staunton, VA, was left completely on her own before she was 18. At various times since then, she worked as many as three jobs at a time to support her children and has combined working with going to school and running her own photography business. Her daughters—Ellise (15), Alexis (9), and Isabelle (7)—are growing fast and keep this single mother very busy.
Yet Hummel is committed to helping others even though her life can be hectic. Sometimes her volunteerism creates unexpected opportunities. While volunteering with the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program, she went to a social services office with the family she was paired with. The phone was ringing unanswered, so Hummel picked up the phone and answered the caller’s question. Her initiative led to a job in the office—her first-ever with health insurance.
She started a photography business after other parents praised the photos she took of her children’s events. After shooting many weddings without charge, she decided to start her own business. She says the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) has given her a leg up to start her business and help her pay her household bills.
Hummel budgets well in advance for her EITC refund: “I just structure what I’m expecting to come in, to pay the things I know need to be paid,” she says. “Most people can make a budget. Even people who aren’t very educated or very good with money can figure out what they need most.”
Hummel points out that the EITC has the added advantage of privacy. She says that at least two of her neighbors don’t participate in programs they’re eligible for, such as SNAP (food stamps) or WIC, because they don’t want people to know about their situation.
Hummel is sensitive to the perspectives of low-income families, such as her neighbors’ embarrassment about needing help, because she has been there herself.
As a Bread activist, her experience makes her a valuable resource. “When we approached Renee earlier this year to help organize a local forum on hunger, she immediately suggested other low-income people who would be important to include,” says Bread regional organizer Marco Grimaldo.
“I think that because Renee values community in the way that she does, she has benefited from support and an awareness of public programs that she otherwise might not have known about,” he adds.
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