Comments on: A Family At The Brink

"The Other America": A New York Family Goes From Middle Class To Shopping At A Food Pantry

[nardie55]

To payasyougo, thanks for the info. on the Hudy address. It helped. Jeanie in S.C.

[stefan49-2009]

Weeeeeeeeell, what a sad story, but where is the rest of the story?
How about the Big Mansion in Chenango Bridge that Mark and Brenda lived in rather lavishly (and as previously mentioned -financed by illegal activities,with all the expensive toys and furnishings) which they decided to move out of, because the heat was getting too much to bear? Mark tried to work-but it did not work for him-for druggies it ussualy does not! At least, there are some people that know the situation and speak the truth!
Yes, there are hardships for many, but wake up America before you start shedding tears for those who know how to abuse the system and know how to play on your emmotions AND be careful--you may be sued by Mark and Brenda if you do not donate a sufficient ammount of money, after all how would you dare!?

Well done CBS, but who did your homework on this one?

Sorry for you Katie, since we all love you anyway!

[payasyougo]

Even though it is the exception, this is still a sad story.

My son is a self employed contractor and must buy his own insurance. It was 12k for his family of four this year or roughly 15% of his gross income. Between insurance and Social Security taxes that would be about 1/3 of his gross.

Moral of this story: struggling w/ insurance is a safer bet and taxes are still too high.

[coolbeans34]

I don''t like hearing this stuff that he''s a drug dealer. If he was, he should have plenty of money and not be in the situation he is now! He still has a wife and kids that need help. I''m going to send a check anyway, it''s sealed and ready to go. I can''t control what they do with it.

Jeanie--Here''s the numbers "1001", match that up with what you found and that''s the right address.

[justice4all9]

As far as a vaction goes, as a child we never went on a vacation until I won a contest at the age of 19. Instead of partying with friends I chose to take my family with me and that vacation is of the fondest memories we cherish. Great things can happen, you just have to seek out opportunity with a positive outlook.

[justice4all9]

My family suffered a similar situation. My mother had no skills to obtain a good paying employment position, just like Brenda. I was 13 at the time and picked up a part-time job after school to help out. My sister followed my footsteps and helped out as well. We all came together as a family and instead of looking back on how tough it was financially, I look back at how strong we became as a family. I am now a paralegal for a prestigious lawfirm and I truly believe that the financial struggles I faced as a young girl helped me become the intelligent, family-oriented lady I am today.

[nyrick2]

To onedndylyon:
You have done as much research as CBS news to say my claims are unsubstantiated! As I said I personally participated in illegal activities with Mark! I know people who currently participate in these same activities with him. This is firsthand knowledge, not rumor. I will gladly substantiate my claims to CBS or even police investigators. I had to provide my name and email address to CBS to post here and I encourage them to contact me as I have nothing to hide. Especially my contempt for drug dealers!

[onedndylyon]

#1 NYRick2 - Unfortunately, your claims are as unsubstantiated as the claims you''re making about CBS News.
#2 As for his addiction to pain meds - RSD will make a person appear addicted. RSD is generally fatal after decades of increasing pain.
#3 Anyone in NYS knows Workers Comp and self pay health insurance are unaffordable. My dad owned his own biz and got out for that reason. Workers Comp is also great at not paying out without years of lawyers.
He fell off a ladder and got hurt. It happens. What doesn''t normally happen is RSD. No one can expect that.
#4 I just looked at some NYS insurance requirements - whomever he was working for as the subcontractor would have required him to have insurance.

[nardie55]

I want to help the Hudy''s, I to belive in play it forward. I found an address, but not sure it is the corect M. Hudy. How can I know? Jeanie in South Carolina

[sallard6]

Instead of checks maybe you could send dunkin donuts gift card seeing how this is where they go 3 or 4 x''s a day. I wouldnt be able to pay my mortage if I bought coffee 3 x''s a day & drove a large vechile. And what happened to the healthy wife not working full time? Of course most familys these days cant live off one income. The children are older and in school and the dad is home all day so why cant the healthy mom get a FULL TIME job.

[nyrick2]

What saddens me is the lack of research CBS did on this family and the actual reason they are on hard times. Mark is a drug addict and dealer. He currently sells and uses various pain pills as well as several other illicit drugs as he has for over 20 years. It truly sickens me that a news agency with the prestige of cbs would run this story with no background check.Before any of you people send money, make sure you are comfortable with supporting a drug addict. If anyone is curious as to how I know this, I was in business with him and his brother for several years before I cleaned up my act.

[slim1h2o]

The time to get a disability insurance policy is BEFORE YOU''''RE DISABLED. Don''''t count on becoming a charity case on the news so generous people will send donations. IT HAPPENS TOO OFTEN FOR EVERY CASE TO GET ON THE NEWS.

Posted by txgrouch2006 at 11:51 PM : Aug 06, 2008

Even when people have disablity insureance, they often don''t pay when people get hurt on the job.

As far as I''m concerned this whole system needs to be scrapped.

[coolbeans34]

I found their address and I''m sending a check today. This was posted on the blog part of another article on this site.
http://find.person.superpages.com/
Put in Mark Hudy and Endicott, NY and you''ll find the address.

[coolbeans34]

Leslie,
Thanks for looking into this. Please let us know how we can help this family after you make your calls today.

[txgrouch2006]

Should an effort be organized to help this family please advise so I can participate.
Posted by MargeInTx at 07:39 PM : Aug 06, 2008

Yes there is such an organization it''s called A DISABILITY INSURANCE POLICY, which is designed to protect families against EXACTLY THIS SITUATION.

It''s unbelievable that a person was making $70K per year with NO PROTECTION AGAINST DISABILITY. A basic policy would not have cost too much on that kind of income.

AND ALMOST HALF OF HOME FORECLOSURES ARE CAUSED BY DISABILITY.

The time to get a disability insurance policy is BEFORE YOU''RE DISABLED. Don''t count on becoming a charity case on the news so generous people will send donations. IT HAPPENS TOO OFTEN FOR EVERY CASE TO GET ON THE NEWS.

[txgrouch2006]

GET DISABILITY INSURANCE! If you depend on your income (who doesn''t), and you don''t have disability insurance, HOW WILL YOU PAY YOUR BILLS IF YOU GET INJURED??? HOW WILL YOUR FAMILY EAT???

47% of foreclosures are caused by DISABILITY!!!

[dragonmaster11]

I just finished watching Brenda''s story and was moved to help that family. Please, if anyone has any information on where to send them something, pass that along. It would be a blessing to help her family. We''ve all made mistakes but that doesn''t mean that they, nor their kids, should have to go hungry now! Praise God for everyone on here that sympathizes with this family!

[sandy777-2009]

I am in worse shape than these people. As a disabled, Vietnam Veteran, I only receive $931 per month from VA Pension, that''''s $11172 per year. By the time I pay my mortgage of $625 per month, I hardly have enough left over for utilities and property tax. I am not receiving food stamps either. I have been living without hot water since April because the gas company turned my gas off because I could not pay the $670 bill for March and April.

I know alot of us are having a real rough time of it so I know what it feels like.

[onedndylyon]

The CBS affiliate is WBNG in Binghamton.
The church they went to is St. Ambrose on Washington Ave in Endicott, NY 13760
My sister told me of this story, so watched it online. Very typical of this area. NYS is so expensive to live in - their house is what used to be called EJ houses. Endicott Johnson - were built by the owner of the EJ shoe factory for its workers. Simple, but solid.
I''ll try to get hold of them tomorrow and see if anything is being done formally. I''ll write when I know.
Leslie

[jtpurdom]

It sucks for them, but they dug this hole. He made $70k/yr and didn''t buy insurance? My family lives on $27k/yr but I still scrape to make sure that my family is insured for just such a reason. I live in the same town but I can still provide a house, food, and electricity for my family of the same size. This story is more of a warning of how not succeed at life. Don''t pity these people. If your going to give food and money to someone, how about me? Or someone who truly needs needs it?