Yahoo’s Remake America Remakes a Local Family

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Clearly, this is a time of economic struggle, most of us have fallen on hard times. Yahoo! has a weekly series that launched March 8, 2012, titled ‘Remake America’ that follows the lives of real families as they attempt to get back on track and achieving “their American dream.” The reality series will offer a lens, through the eyes of real families, into the political issues at the forefront of the 2012 elections, including the impact of unemployment, healthcare, veteran affairs, and the housing market.

These families are not any different from most of us. Their stories are so similar to most people I know, that they are simply un-extraordinary. In fact, when you watch the stories, I can almost guarantee you that you or someone you know has been through something worse.

But that’s sort of the problem, isn’t it? That extreme hardship has become the norm in a country that used to be known for bounty. Don’t get me wrong- this is no Darfur, of course- but relatively speaking, we are not stable and cannot offer our children the things that other generations were able to. There is no consensus as to when we will recover. Enter- the Great Recession.

In order for surviving businesses to “cope”, those that still have their doors open have cut costs and labor, or sent their jobs overseas- hurting Americans when we need jobs most. Many people have lost their jobs, or become severely underemployed. Many Americans are now without benefits, and home foreclosure and the jobless rate is at an incredible high. Those who are lucky enough to HAVE jobs are often forced to work long hours with no overtime, or to do the jobs of 3 people with no extra pay and no bonuses, no raises, nothing but stress to thank them. Many have unrealistic work loads placed on them, or are required to take on additional tasks outside their normal routines. What is to be done?

Say hello to a local family to my area, John and Michele Kocotos. John was laid off from his position in the Red Cross, and Michele was forced to get her Master’s Degree in order to keep her job as a head teacher in a local daycare.

I recently got the opportunity to sit down and chat with them, and they are very nice people- the kind you would meet at church or your children’s soccer games and enjoy talking to.
John and Michelle of Little Falls, NJ, have found themselves near bankruptcy and debt due to job loss. John, after working for the American Red Cross for 16 years, has been laid off due to the downfall in the economy and at the same time Michelle has just been told that to continue her teaching position, she needs to go back to school to get her masters or she will also lose her job. Michelle is torn because by going back to school her family will fall deeper into debt. Their episodes explore the family’s strain as they attempt to overcome economic challenges

They are the parents of three children, one with Asperger’s Disorder, one with Dyslexia, and one Pre-Teen. Married 17 years, Michele’s elderly father also resides with them.
John was unemployed 6 months before Remake America Helped him find his new job with Allied Barton Security, which he enjoys and gives him a comparable salary to his Red Cross job. They also helped him by having a professional come in and rebuild his resume. Michele has chosen to pay for her classes and go online so that she can still work and spend time with her family rather then let her employer pay the bill but go to school physically and miss out on family time. She will receive a significant salary increase when she graduates with her Master’s degree, which is slated for January 2014.

At the beginning of the show, the family was $300 thousand dollars in debt due to credit cards, healthcare costs, orthodontics, and John being unemployed for 6 months. Remake America has gotten a team in to help them with debt reduction and they are making strides towards repayment of debt. They also have health coverage at this time.

Michele and John can be any of us. Watching this show is like watching your neighbors. Maybe seeing this sort of thing so blatantly online on this series will help those in power help middle America- because we need it. I hope that they do succeed in Re-Making America. We really need a make-over.
John and Michele shoot the video themselves and are paid nominally for their cooperation.