It has been almost a week since the supposed doomsday scenario report from the White House. There has been no shutdowns or sky falls, but the truth is that long before the sequester, local Bellwood and Maywood and Hillside residents have been struggling.
Certain neighborhoods in Chicago have been underwater before the crisis of 2007, and have never recovered from the mortgage debacle.
As a local reporter from Bellwood and now a resident, I can see the devastation of a forgotten community.
The sequester was a political ambush as all of the other budget battles. There are real implications of a more than $16 trillion dollar debt for the United States. There is a real affect locally of unemployment that remains stuck at 7.9%. Unfortunately, these numbers do not speak of the local hardships.
Learning Impressions is a tutoring company that operates out of Bellwood. Although the children are in need of services, most parents can not afford the already discounted fees that put their children even further out of reach of that American dream.
The neighborhood is still facing underwater homes that have lost more than 2X's their value. The average home price in Bellwood and Maywood is around $40 to 50,000. Revenues are down locally while the cost of goods are up for residents. With no jobs and higher prices, what is going to happen regardless of the sequester cuts?
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