I am the 99%.

occupywallst.org

My name is Olivia.  I can’t hold a sign because I’m so little. 

I was born with club feet.  One was so bad, it was nearly upside-down.  My feet have been stretched into place and casted into position every week since I was 3 weeks old.  It really hurts.  I’m 3 and a half months old now, so I’ve done that a lot.  It costs about $500 each time.  (You can see one of my casts peeking out under my dress.)

On March 21, 2012 I had my first surgery, because the stretching wasn’t working.  That cost nearly $9,000, but if my feet don’t get fixed, I’ll never be able to walk.

Medicaid is paying to fix my feet.  My Daddy is a disabled veteran, but his insurance won’t cover my feet.  My Mom is trying to raise my 3 brothers and I while she wracks up student loans getting her college degree, because minimum wage isn’t enough to keep a roof over our heads.

WIC is paying for my formula, because Mom’s milk never came in.  She feels kinda bad about that, but sometimes these things just happen.

I hear that some people want to get rid of Medicaid, the Pell Grant, and WIC, so that the 1% can have even more tax breaks.  Well, I want to be able to walk.  I need to eat.  And my Mom would like to be able to provide for me better someday.  I don’t understand why people want to take that away from me.  What did I do wrong?