BERKS COUNTY, Pa. – Rising prices are causing concerns for everyone trying to make ends meet these days.
“Eggs are extremely too much and I have to be on eggs for protein,” said Carmen Dobbins of Reading.
“Beef is extremely high,” said Ian Harris of Reading. “Look, everything’s more expensive. Gas. Gas is crazy and what I do about gas – I don’t travel as much.”
The cost of living is going up and everything from gas to food and even buying clothes is becoming a struggle for people.
“We knew when the war in Iran started and oil would be embargoed, it would be slow if not stopped, and everything on the planet revolves around oil,” said Lawrence Berringer, Berks Community Action Plan executive director.
Berringer says his organization is seeing people come in for help who didn’t need it previously.
“When the price of oil, the price of fuel, price of gas goes up, transportation prices go up,” Berringer explained. “Then the price on commodities goes up as well and it trickles down to almost every single aspect of daily life.”
“Definitely like the gas prices for sure, even like cost of food has gone up,” said Amy Kemnitzer of Leesport.
“I don’t eat out because it’s costly,” said Kysha Word of Reading.
Berringer says they’re seeing families who are experiencing homelessness who never have before and he expects it will get worse before it gets better with costs continuing to rise.
“We depend basically on the trucking industry,” said Berringer. “They depend on gasoline or diesel fuel and when their prices go up, they have to pass that on to the supplier. We’ll just talk about bread; then a bakery has to pass that on to the consumer.”
BCAP helps with things like utility assistance, energy efficiency, and budget counseling. They can also put people in touch with organizations to help with resources that they may not be aware of.
“As long as somebody needs help, our doors are always open and we do as much as we can with the resources that we have,” added Berringer.
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