It was just another day working from home when Highlands parent and ad designer Paige Downie received a meeting notification from her boss.

      At that moment, he gave Downie the news: “Your hours got cut from 40 hours to 24 hours.”  

      Downie was going through so many emotions she couldn’t think straight. She was stressed and frantic, but also somber. This was all because of COVID-19.

      COVID-19 affected SpartanNash, Downie’s company, because they could not produce the ads for the stores since they refused to pay. Because of that, Downie and all of her clients lost hours.

      Mad with shock and disbelief at the time, she expressed how she had felt, saying, “I had to work, but I couldn’t be spread so thin. Why did this have to happen to me?”

      Downie then realized that she had to be very attentive with money since almost half of her hours were cut. Luckily, she could still provide for her family and survive, but could not afford the new deck she’d been pining over.

     “Covid has brought me and [Paige] closer together due to us both losing hours at work and working from home,” Downie’s friend, Angie Meloche, said.

      Downie finally got her hours back on September 11 and is back to normal pay and a normal lifestyle. Once she got her hours back, she immediately felt relieved and free, she recalls. Downie is now in a good place with no problems at her work, receiving her regular pay and defeating her financial struggles.

      “I can finally get my new deck!” Downie exclaims.