Tatiana Finley

In October, our fiscal year ends.

Do we need to prepare for another shutdown then?

I have heard of officers saying, listen, this is no longer a stable job for me.

Whether I am a single parent home and not able to make ends meet because we don't know when my paycheck is going to come.

or they're being sole caregivers of their household.

And, you know, they depend on their salary to be able to provide care for their family members.

They're like, if this continues, I don't see myself lasting long.

It's gotten to the point where in my head, like sometimes...

sometimes days feel harder than others.

I can say that much.

For me, especially on those days when things are hard, I'm like, you know, I can only deal with one thing at a time.

And, you know, today's not the end of the world, so we still have tomorrow and see where things go.

That's hopeful.

Yeah.

Because otherwise, I mean, if...

If I allowed the helplessness to take over, I wouldn't get out of bed, right?

And that is not an option.

I have to be.

I have to be for the sake of my officers.

I have to be because, you know, I signed up, when I signed up for the union, I signed up to be an advocate.