Help Leah Make Ends Meet

On Valentine's Day 2025, Leah was one of thousands of federal workers illegally and unexpectedly terminated by DOGE. Her story is below. She is currently looking for work in the Jasper or Harrison area. She has been able to find a couple of odd jobs, but needs help making ends meet until she can secure more stable employment. She does not qualify for unemployment. Let's come together to support her during this senseless time of heartbreak and hardship.

"I don’t like to post about my personal life on social media, but I think you deserve to know the reality of what is happening to our National Park Service. I applied to be a Recreation Fee Technician for the Upper Buffalo District on September 2, 2024. After I had lost all hope of even getting to interview, I received an email of interest on December 5th. One week later I accepted a tentative job offer, contingent upon completing a lengthy onboarding and background check process. My official job offer was received ten days prior to my start date. Because there was no housing near where I would be stationed, I bought a camper, along with necessary accessories, such as water and sewer hoses. I was also required to purchase certain items to complete my uniform. This was my dream job, though, so I was happy to spend the majority of my savings to relocate if it meant getting to protect the natural resources that make our country special.

On my second day of work, I received the email about the deferred resignation offer, but I didn’t accept it because I believed my job - a job necessary for core operations - was most likely safe. Then, on Valentine’s Day, I received word that I was to cease work on the project I was completing to prepare our campgrounds for the crowds of people who use our facilities because my position had been terminated. I drove immediately from the campground to our headquarters, but I was already locked out of my account by the time I arrived. Three other Buffalo National River employees - a River Ranger who is essential for keeping visitors safe, one of only three maintenance staff in the middle district, and the one and only interpreter on staff at the Buffalo Point visitor center - were also terminated with no severance offer. At this time, it’s unclear if I’ll even qualify for unemployment. I was directed to turn in all my park property except for my uniforms. I guess I’ll save these for Halloween as a bittersweet reminder of these tremendous losses. I imagine there will be many more by October 2025.

Now, are there opportunities to make our federal government run more smoothly? Absolutely. Is this initiative effectively targeting the redundancies and shortcomings of our system? Definitely NOT. We are some of the lowest paid and hardest working employees in the government. We do our jobs because we love our parks and we want to offer the people who visit them the best experiences possible. So, please take a moment to consider why the park service would be targeted. What could the people behind these decisions possibly stand to gain from eroding one of the greatest conservation acts in the world? Well, the answer isn’t pretty, folks, no matter how you slice it."