ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. — As active-duty members of the Coast Guard missed their first paychecks of the government shutdown Tuesday, members of the Jacksonville-area community worked to alleviate stress felt by the Coast Guard members and their families.
Beth Buswell, a mother-of-two whose husband is active-duty Coast Guard, said only one word described how she felt; scary.
“As of January 12, pretty much, the money from our paycheck on the first has run out,” Buswell said. “Bills are due, gas for cars is needed and a lot of us don’t know how we’re going to take care of these bills.”
Buswell spoke with First Coast News from the USO Mayport Center, where members of the Coast Guard and their families were able to pick up free groceries Tuesday. Greater Jacksonville Area USO Executive Director Mike O’Brien estimated 200-250 families were served Tuesday alone.
Buswell said she’d been getting by thanks to the kindness of others, but worried when that would end.
“Gas money will randomly show up at my house, someone will offer to buy me groceries, someone will help me with babysitting,” Buswell said. “[But] there’s only so much people can do. Other people have other responsibilities so at what point will it stop?”
Both Buswell and Rachel Broxson, another Coast Guard Wife, have the same concern going forward.
“The not knowing,” Broxson said.
Broxson worried not only for her own family, but for every family in this situation.
“I’ve got so many families I know of that are already going through financial hardship just by missing this paycheck,” Broxson said.
February 1 could bring even more heartache to Coast Guard families. It would be the second missed paycheck and coincide with things like rent and car payments.
“You miss that car payment, it messes with your credit rating,” Broxson said. “And then our spouses’ security clearances are tied to that credit rating.”
With so much still uncertain and no end to the shutdown in sight, the women pleaded for a solution and relief from Washington, DC.
“Let’s stop using peoples’ lives as a bargaining chip,” Buswell said.
Click here for a list of services available to people affected by the shutdown and ways to donate to those in need.