In 2009, John Graichen was enjoying a comfortable middle-class life. He was 43 years old, living in a three-bedroom house in Warwick with his wife and three kids. He’d spent over 20 years working on the grounds crew at Warwick Country Club, a job he loved. John was often at the golf course seven days a week, doing everything from mowing grass to raking bunkers. When he wasn’t working, he spent his free time fishing and hiking with his wife.
The following year, in 2010, John’s life would change forever. He developed a severe case of Neurologic Lyme Disease and was unable to continue his job at the golf course. His wife’s job as a part-time nutritionist at a Warwick nursing home couldn’t make up for the lost income. As a result, they failed to keep up with their mortgage payments and eventually lost the house in 2013.
“Pretty much everything I had held dear changed,” John said. “That was the worst time in my life. I lost everything I had. But I always look for the good in things. I always look up. If you look down, you’ll never, ever get out of a slump or you’ll never get out of depression. I won’t look at the bad things in life. I refuse to.”
John’s optimism paid off shortly after he lost his house. His brother learned about a small two-bedroom apartment that was available in Coventry for just $1,000 a month. For the past nine years, John and his wife have lived there with their youngest son.
Paying rent for the Graichen’s was never easy. John receives $1,200 a month in disability payments, and his wife makes just a couple of hundred dollars a week working at her nursing home job. But inflation has made things much harder. It’s forced John and his wife to significantly change their lifestyles. They used to love driving to hiking spots in South County and East Providence, but those days are over.
“Me and the wife used to like to go different places, you know? Some of them weren’t as close,” John said. “Because of, not just the gas but the rising everything, there’s just less money to go further to do things. We eat at home a lot more than we used to. All products, everything’s higher and nobody’s paychecks are getting higher. Just our cost of living is.”
John says he and his family members have no problem making due with less. But in recent months, John has become concerned about whether they’ll be able to stay in their apartment. The landlord wants to make some renovations, and that would require the Graichen’s to temporarily find another place to live that they can afford. John says he thinks the landlord will increase his rent by a few hundred dollars once the renovations are complete. If that happens, John says he couldn’t afford it.
“I wouldn’t want to be in a situation where I was homeless right now,” John said. “If we lost this apartment today – I was just looking and someone’s offering the same two-bedrooms for $1,800, and right now we’re only paying a thousand. So if I lost this place, I’d be in a lot of trouble.”
Despite the uncertainty, John is staying positive. If necessary, he says he’ll try to find a one-bedroom apartment for the same cost he’s paying now. But that’s a bridge he’ll have to cross when he gets there. For the time being, he’s grateful to have a roof over his head, a supportive wife, and hope for a brighter future.
Joe Tasca can be reached at jtasca@ripr.org
