DAVENPORT, Iowa -
Joanne Sandy remembers her reaction when the Illinois budget crisis forced her off the job at Bethany for Children & Families this week.
"I just couldn't believe it," she recalled. "I thought, oh no, here I go again."
We first met her in 2006. That's after her 15-year job at Maytag was exported south of the border to Reynosa, Mexico. She went back to school and studied marketing at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg.
"We're going to school to learn new trades and skills," she said in March 2006.
After battling back from foreclosure and financial instability, the single mom of three facing uncertainty again.
"I want to be stable financially," she said. "I'm a hard-working person. To me, there should be rewards for that type of person."
A federal court order will restore two programs at Bethany, but Joanne's job remains on furlough.
Her story is repeating over and over again. It's something that Illinois lawmakers must consider as they deal with the budget stalemate.
"We have to take care of them," said State Rep. Mike Boland, (D) East Moline. "We have to help them out."
Rep. Boland says that he's angry and calling to end the game playing in Springfield to embrace compromise.
"We need both sides in this dispute to be willing to listen to some new ideas," he said. "Hopefully, we can come up with some of those."
But with the clock ticking, Joanne Sandy can't afford to wait. She's using her furlough time to apply for new jobs. Frustrated, yet sympathetic, toward Illinois lawmakers tied up with the economy.
"It doesn't help me to get upset," she said. "It's not my first rodeo, so to speak, so I'll get through it. I got through it before. I'll get through it again."
And with luck and timing, come back to Bethany later this month.
"I just couldn't believe it," she recalled. "I thought, oh no, here I go again."
We first met her in 2006. That's after her 15-year job at Maytag was exported south of the border to Reynosa, Mexico. She went back to school and studied marketing at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg.
"We're going to school to learn new trades and skills," she said in March 2006.
After battling back from foreclosure and financial instability, the single mom of three facing uncertainty again.
"I want to be stable financially," she said. "I'm a hard-working person. To me, there should be rewards for that type of person."
A federal court order will restore two programs at Bethany, but Joanne's job remains on furlough.
Her story is repeating over and over again. It's something that Illinois lawmakers must consider as they deal with the budget stalemate.
"We have to take care of them," said State Rep. Mike Boland, (D) East Moline. "We have to help them out."
Rep. Boland says that he's angry and calling to end the game playing in Springfield to embrace compromise.
"We need both sides in this dispute to be willing to listen to some new ideas," he said. "Hopefully, we can come up with some of those."
But with the clock ticking, Joanne Sandy can't afford to wait. She's using her furlough time to apply for new jobs. Frustrated, yet sympathetic, toward Illinois lawmakers tied up with the economy.
"It doesn't help me to get upset," she said. "It's not my first rodeo, so to speak, so I'll get through it. I got through it before. I'll get through it again."
And with luck and timing, come back to Bethany later this month.
