Without paycheck, federal worker could lose it all

DICKINSON, Texas (FOX 26) — U.S. Marine Corps veteran and longtime federal government employee Vanessa Jordon lost nearly everything she owned when Hurricane Harvey flooded her Dickinson home and destroyed her vehicles.

“I’m a Harvey survivor and l’m just rebuilding my house,” said Jordon.

Rebuilding from the storm absorbed all of Jordon’s savings and maxed out her credit, leaving her completely exposed to the second personal disaster in seventeen months — a partial government shutdown that has claimed her paycheck and what little sense of security she had managed to restore in her life.

“Everything is in danger,” described Jordon. “My home is in danger and I don’t want to lose it.”

Jordon’s message to leaders in Washington is clear and unequivocal.

“Whichever side of the aisle you are on, you work for us,” said Jordon. “You are supposed to be representing us. We need help. We need to work. That is all we are asking you to do. Put us back to work.”

Jordon has no financial cushion, a predicament shared with thousands of fellow federal workers on furlough.

The American Federation of Government Employees says many of its Texas members live paycheck to paycheck and are suffering because of the shutdown.