Re: “Rental aid was a lifeline when her cancer returned. Now the funds have dried up” (Dec. 3, Page A1):
Richard Jorgensen and Anne Jorgensen receive $1,400 a month through the federal pandemic-era Emergency Rental Assistance program. “I felt like I was gut-punched,” Richard said after their application for further aid was denied. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer
I want to applaud Richard Jorgensen for having the courage to tell his story and the Portland Press Herald for putting it on the front page of the Saturday newspaper.
Richard and Anne Jorgensen are certainly not the only ones in need. There are thousands of others all over our state – and millions in our country – struggling to keep a roof over their head, or to find one, as you noted in the story by the Sun Journal’s Christopher Wheelock published in Sunday’s paper (“Homeless in Maine,” Dec. 4, Page B1).
The Jorgensens would probably be the first to admit that others have it a lot worse than they do. But that doesn’t help them right now with the rent. We need some fixes and we need them now as the weather gets colder. Heating fuel, electricity and rent are all necessities, as are medications, food and clothing. In some areas, we offer assistance. In others, we don’t, or it’s not nearly enough to cover the current prices.
Let’s rattle the political cages and shake the governments’ piggy banks (and our own) and help those in need.
Arthur C. Benedict
Peaks Island
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