To: Svante Myrick, Mayor of City of Ithaca
Raise minimum wage in Ithaca, NY
Raise minimum wage in Ithaca, NY, where cost of living is estimated to approach $13/hour. This is especially crucial for mental health and other human service workers in Ithaca (like myself) who are performing necessary services for the community yet are barely scraping by.
Why is this important?
I work as a residential counselor at a group home in Ithaca, NY for adults suffering from mental illness. Despite the emotionally taxing and skilled nature of this work, I am still earning under $11 per hour. This makes it very difficult to survive and maintain a decent standard of living in Ithaca, especially considering the hefty student loan payments that have been a constant financial pressure since completion of my undergraduate education at Cornell (education which, by the way, was necessary for me to gain my current employment in the mental health field). This issue is not at all unique to my situation, I'm constantly hearing fellow Ithacans vent about how difficult it is to make ends meet in this beautiful city despite working full-time. Please consider signing this petition to ensure fair living wages for all citizens of Ithaca.