OPB: 'Hard Times' on Warm Springs Reservation
Friday, October 16, 2009
Filed Under:
National
"Jeanie Brisbois sits in her cramped office, next to a loud air conditioner and a noisy walkie-talkie.
Her job, as an office manager for the local vehicle pool, isn’t glamorous.
But she is content -- and in many ways, her contentedness is clear evidence of her unusual experience in today’s recession.
Jeanie Brisbois: “This job pays really well, so I’d miss the money if I left here.”
Last year, like many workers, she lost her job.
For a few months, she lived off some money she had socked away for retirement.
She says she’s lucky, Brisbois knows others don’t have the luxury of a 401(k) to take money out of.
Jeanie Brisbois: “At first I was wondering if that was the right thing to do, but then when I heard everyone was losing money on their 401k's, I was kinda glad I did. I used that to live on for a year.”
But a few months later, Brisbois applied for – and got – this job, at the vehicle pool for the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs."
Get the Story:
Hard Times: Life On The Reservation Full Of Challenges
(Oregon Public Broadcasting 10/15)
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