‘I voted for Donald Trump, yet I still firmly believe that it’s the government’s responsibility to create jobs and ensure an affordable cost of living for hard-working Americans. It’s time for Washington to stop playing politics with our lives and start taking action.’

I am a certified auto mechanic and had been working at an auto repair shop on Staten Island when COVID-19 arrived and tore my family’s finances apart. The shop was forced to close, leaving me out of work. My wife lost her job as a waitress at a local restaurant. One of my two daughters lost her job, too, all because of the pandemic.

Today, m­­y family can’t afford basic necessities. My rent is $2,000 a month, but I can only pay part of that each month. Our cost of living is too high for us, when you combine rent, water, gas, and other expenses for a family of four. And we’re always struggling to buy groceries.

We’re behind on all of our bills, and I have to pay some of them with a credit card at an 18-percent interest rate, putting us even further behind.

I receive $400 each month in Social Security and a weekly unemployment payment of $450. It’s not enough to get by and live a decent life. I’ve been looking for work, but it’s not easy to find a decent job at 66. This is far from the life I imagined when I immigrated to the United States from Egypt in 1988 and became a proud U.S. citizen that same year. 

This is supposed to be the richest country in the world, yet we also have some of the poorest people in the world. And especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, we have people — right here on Staten Island — who have worked hard our whole lives, and now face deeply serious financial problems.

We need good jobs. We need to be able to afford the basics and support our families. We need Washington to step forward and help us get back on our feet.

I voted for Donald Trump, yet I still firmly believe that it’s the government’s responsibility to create jobs and ensure an affordable cost of living for hard-working Americans. It’s time for Washington to stop playing politics with our lives and start taking action.

If Congress passed a solid jobs bill, people on Staten Island would have a better chance of getting good-paying employment.

And I support the Congressional plan to lower utility costs and to lower housing costs, which would lower people’s cost of living. I am in favor of strengthening unemployment insurance– and the plan to make sure that super-wealthy Americans start to pay their fair share of taxes.

Other countries care about the health of their citizens, but what about America? Healthcare costs are far too high, and if you have a sick country you have a sick society.

That’s why I also support the American Families Plan to lower healthcare costs—and to expand Medicare to include dental, vision and hearing coverage. In my case, though I worked hard for more than 30 years, I can barely afford to get my teeth cleaned, much less pay for dentures.

I would like my representative in Congress, Nicole Malliotakis, to recognize that my situation is not unique. People are suffering all across Staten Island. The pandemic struck our community hard. People here are living hand to mouth, through no fault of our own.

I urge Rep. Malliotakis to recognize our pain, and to help hard-working Staten Islanders recover from the huge economic damage that is being caused by this pandemic. Help us afford our lives —and help us restore our economic security.

Kamel Rizkalla lives on Staten Island and is a member of WorkMoney, a nonprofit advocacy organization.