Sara Isaacs works as a special education teacher at Westerly High School. She’s a mother of two children, and she owns a home in Ashaway she purchased in June of 2020, just before housing prices went through the roof. But following her recent divorce, Sara has found it challenging to pay for basic things. Prices for food and gas are going up, and her salary isn’t keeping pace.
“As a schoolteacher, people think ‘Oh, teachers make plenty of money. They’re fine.’ No, we don’t,” Sara said. “I’m still at the day-to-day piece. Having the cushion, having the savings, isn’t a reality for me yet. I hope that it could be someday. But with the drastically increasing prices of everything else, I feel like that’s being slowly taken away.”
Sara receives about 200-dollars a month in alimony payments from her ex-husband, but she says that barely puts a dent in her overall expenses. As prices began rising last year, she found it difficult to put food on the table for herself and her two kids while keeping up with her monthly mortgage payments. That’s when a friend who works in social services told her that, based on her income, she qualified for food assistance. So, she began going to the Jonnycake Center in Westerly, a local food pantry. As a teacher with two graduate degrees, Sara said walking into a pantry for the first time was difficult.
“It can be humiliating,” Sara said. “You would expect to be further in life financially and you would expect to have more to show for it (5). But I think at the end of the day, when it comes to making sure that you can provide holidays for your kids and healthy meals then you’ll go to that.”
While many teachers can afford to take the summers off, Sara has to get a second job for a couple of months. She’s worked summer school in the past, but this year she’s hoping to take a break from the stressful school environment by pursuing elder care or babysitting. For Sara, the job search itself is a source of anxiety that she says is compounded by the fact that unexpected expenses are popping up:
“Right now, there’s something wrong with my dryer,” Sara said. “It’s taking all day to dry clothes, so I have to look into having someone to look at that. And instantly, it sort of makes the pit of your stomach grow a little tight. You’re wondering how much is it going to cost them just to walk through the door?”
Despite her financial struggles, Sara says she’s learned to be content and thankful for what she has. When the pandemic hit, Sara says she and her kids started taking camping trips across New England. On one memorable trip, they drove up to Vermont to camp and visit Sara’s brother and sister-in-law. They set up a tent, and spent a couple of days swimming and hiking, capped off by quiet nights roasting marshmallows by the fire.
But fast forward to today and Sara says she’s thinking more about what the future holds than she ever has before. She says she’s especially concerned about a possible recession and the subsequent impact on her kids, 13-year-old Emma and eight-year-old Oliver.
“I’m fearful for them in terms of their ability to achieve goals that could be hard to get to,” Sara said. “I’m questioning how much longer I’ll have to work to have and secure a decent retirement for myself without expecting my children to support me. Because they shouldn’t have to.”
Because of the uncertain economic climate, Sara says she doesn’t have any vacations planned for this summer. Instead, the rising cost of living has forced her to focus on paying bills. It’s not an ideal situation, but she says she’s fortunate to have friends who make her laugh, cry with her at times, and help keep her going.
Joe Tasca can be reached at jtasca@ripr.org
