This holiday season, Vonzetta S. is counting her blessings.
“God listened to my prayers through United Way, and that’s how I got through this–by faith,” she said.
What she got through—was the longest government shutdown in US history. Vonzetta is employed by the Social Security Administration. And for roughly six weeks this fall, she was required to keep working in the office—but without pay.
“I had to come in to work. I had no other choice,” Vonzetta said. “That means I had to drive and put gas in my car to get there so I could keep my job and eventually get paid. But the little bit you save up–when you’re not getting a check for close to two months, it’s a real struggle.”
Worried about mounting bills, Vonzetta reached out to United Way 211 for support. It’s the first time in her life she’s ever asked for the community’s help to get by.
“I asked for assistance from the people I pay for parking with and on my car payment. Nobody wanted to help. They just want their money. So you have to pay,” said Vonzetta. “I don’t want to get too far behind on my car payment and end up getting it repossessed. So you do what you have to do.”
For Vonzetta, that meant burning through her savings account to keep food on the table and the lights on. But when the next set of bills came due, she was scrambling.
Thankfully, United Way of Greater Kansas City was able to provide pivotal assistance in her time of need. Vonzetta is one of more than 29 federal workers given support through United Way’s debit card initiative, with nearly $30,000 in total assistance provided.
“I greatly appreciate what you did with that shutdown. You can’t do everything. But it’s always a blessing when someone else blesses us and I greatly appreciate that,” she shared.
Thanks to the assistance she received, Vonzetta says she also was careful and planned ahead—paying some bills through the first part of 2026, in anticipation there could be yet another government shutdown in January. That’s because when lawmakers voted to end the last shutdown in November, they only funded things through January 30th.
“Until someone is in our shoes—it’s easy for people to say they don’t care about it. I still had to come in and do my job to make sure people could get their paychecks on time, their benefits and things, as an essential worker. But my benefits got cut. And who cared?” Vonzetta said. “People can be so mean about it all, but let me tell you–United Way truly cared. And I can’t thank you enough for that. It was a true blessing.”
Help United Way ensure we can respond with real-time solutions in times of crisis as we enter 2026. Make your year-end tax-deductible gift here.