Andre: A Father of Five Trying to Keep the Lights on

Even before the pandemic swept the world, Andre and his fiancé were struggling. In early 2020, both of his fiancé’s parents died within weeks of each other, and his fiancé had also just had a miscarriage. 

With four kids at home, ranging in age from elementary school to high school, it was an especially difficult time. Andre worked at a factory in Dayton, Ohio as a tool and die machine operator. A high volume of his coworkers were getting sick. 

“We had just found out she was pregnant again when the pandemic hit and I was laid off,” Andre said. 

Because of his fiancé ’s high-risk pregnancy, she was no longer working. The spread of COVID-19 made her pregnancy even more high risk. 

“I’ve got a kid who has asthma and a fiancé with a high-risk pregnancy,” Andre said. “I had to take the layoff because I [couldn’t] afford for anyone in my household to get sick.”

The family had no savings when the pandemic began. After paying for two funerals, the family was financially strapped even before Andre lost his job. 

Andre’s fiancé was ineligible for unemployment because she hadn’t been working when the pandemic hit. While Andre did qualify to receive benefits, it took three months for him to start receiving payments, and even then, it still wasn’t enough. 

“It was less than what I had been making,” he explained. “Even with five kids, [the government] doesn’t boost the payment.”

When the extra $600 of federal unemployment benefits expired at the end of July, his situation became even more difficult. 

Andre found out about SaverLife’s emergency relief fund on Facebook. He received a $500 grant from MetLife Foundation and SaverLife. He put the money towards bills. 

Andre’s older kids are back in school, and his fiancé is staying home with their newborn baby. Andre has been looking for work, but has yet to find anything. 

“It’s hard to get to work and get all the kids to school when we only have one car,” he said. 

Andre is trying to take things day by day and enjoy the extra time he is getting with his family. 

“I’m trying to stay positive that when darkness happens there’s light that can come,” Andre said. “I’m trying to keep the lights on.”