Jodi Newell is pictured with her sons, Corado and Benny, in April 2022. (Photo credit: Jodi Newell)
Stimulus payments and the expanded child tax credit (CTC) from the American Rescue Plan stabilized and bolstered financial security for working-class families. When Jodi Newell in Keene, New Hampshire, received the stimulus payments, she used the money to acquire reliable transportation that she needed to get to work.
Jodi is a single mother who travels 80 miles to and from her job at a homeless shelter in Massachusetts. As a result, reliable transportation is essential to her and her two teenage boys. When the stimulus checks from the American Rescue Plan arrived, Jodi used that money to put a down payment on a car. The CTC payments that arrived soon afterward helped her to afford her regular car payments and insurance, in addition to helping her pay down debt.
Because of the stimulus money from the American Rescue Plan earlier this year, I was able to put a down payment on a car. And with the monthly child tax credit coming, I knew I could afford to pay the car payments and insurance. It means everything to me to have a reliable source of transportation. It means I can keep traveling to work so that I can keep putting food on the table for my two boys.
Jodi Newell
While the American Rescue Plan provided much-needed relief for millions of families, the funds disappeared too soon. Congress must work to invest in programs that support the complete economic recovery of American families.
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This storybook features women in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and New Hampshire whose stories center on issues from prescription drug pricing and health insurance, to child care and paid leave.