Raising my 14-year-old son has been the most rewarding aspect of my life. He is my bright light and a constant source of joy. But providing for the two of us is a daily battle as I struggle to make ends meet. 

I’ve worked in several different industries, including dental assistance, food service and data entry. Being in the workforce gave me a sense of pride and purpose. It allowed me to provide for my son the way any parent wants to. Unfortunately, last year, my doctor said I’m medically unable to work. I’m grateful for the financial support I began to receive through Social Security Disability Insurance three months ago, but it’s barely enough to keep myself and my son afloat. We live a simple life in a one bedroom apartment and I’ve cut down our expenses as much as I can, but between rent, phone, electricity, and internet, we are barely getting by. For years, it has been a financial struggle, made even harder when I had to pay hundreds of dollars for child care each month. However, I was always willing to make the sacrifices needed — including selling my car a few years ago because I couldn’t afford it anymore. 

Besides SSDI, we also rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Feeding a teenage son is expensive and grocery prices are unforgiving — especially when your son is a growing teenager who’s already sprouted to 6’2”! The $286 a month we receive doesn’t go far, but it helps cover the basics: whole milk, ground beef, beans, rice, and a few apples. No snacks or anything extra. To make up for the groceries we can’t afford, I’ve started going to our local food bank regularly. And even then, it’s not enough. I’ve skipped meals so my son doesn’t have to. Without SNAP, we would be skipping more and wouldn’t be able to survive.

When I was working, I couldn’t afford my family’s health care, just like nearly 13 million other other working women. Since losing my ability to work through no fault of my own, the health care burden remains, and my son and I simply couldn’t make it without our health care from Medicaid.

When our state legislature came together with our Republican governor to pass Medicaid in 2013, Arizona lawmakers said women, children, seniors and all people deserve access to health care in the richest nation on earth. It’s how Medicaid has been there for my son his entire life. When he was born, our benefits helped me cover costs. Since then, he gets regular doctors’ appointments and dental check-ins.

He plays football and without Medicaid, he can’t get physicals and would be cut from his team. I have used Medicaid to pay for important surgeries for myself, including a hernia repair and a laparoscopy. I have issues with my hip that I can only afford to treat because of Medicaid. Medicaid has helped ensure that as a mother, I can raise my son.  

When Senators in D.C. vote to cut SNAP and Medicaid, they’re hurting people like me and my son. Two million people across Arizona need Medicaid in order to survive. Fifteen percent of households here — or 900,000 people — rely on SNAP benefits every day. These aren’t handouts, they’re lifelines.

I’m grateful my Senators, Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, understand what Arizona families need to get by and voted against cuts to Medicaid and SNAP. However, when the House of Representatives voted on cuts to SNAP and Medicaid last month, my representative, Rep. David Schweikert, slept through the vote. He couldn’t be bothered to wake up to defend the programs that keep families like mine alive. President Trump, Rep. Schweikert, and others want to take away what little stability we have left to give billionaires tax breaks. They’re not just turning their backs on us; they’re trying to strip away the very programs we, as taxpayers, pay into and depend on to give people who already have immense wealth and power more of both.

They may not see us, but we are not invisible. We see each other and the challenges we all face. We see the kind of state we have been and what we want to be as Arizonans. A great, but caring state, where everyone can see a doctor, grow up playing football, and be there to raise their children. 

Every day, I get up and do what I can to provide a good life for my son. I ask for very little, no luxuries, just the necessities and basic dignity — the ability to feed my son, afford the doctor, and live a joyful life.

We are running out of time for our lawmakers to do the right thing and stand up for American families. People like me are fighting to stay alive. The very least our leaders can do is stay awake for the fight.

Laura Pacific is a Phoenix mother.