BRATTLEBORO -- A single mother in Westminster working full-time at a low-paying job cannot afford to get out of debt.

A college student from Brattleboro worried financial pressures at home may force her out of college and onto a career path not of her choice.

A Windham County senior citizen experienced yet another layoff while still 18 months from any Social Security benefits.

Is the recession over? asked U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders. Not according to the more than 400 Americans (mainly Vermonters) who responded to the senator's recently published booklet of letters, titled "Struggling Through the Recession."

Sanders, a Vermont independent, asked residents from around the Green Mountain State to share their personal experiences dealing with the worst economic period since the Great Depression more than 70 years ago.

"I get a little bit tired of hearing from politicians and pundits who tell us that the ‘recession is coming to an end, the recession is over, there's light at the end of the tunnel and we don't have to worry about job creation,' and I think that is just not true," Sanders said. "I think in Vermont and around this country, there are not only unemployed, but you have people who are working for wages that are inadequate for them to take care of their family."

One important way to get the information out into the mainstream is to have the people themselves talk about their experiences. So roughly a month ago, Sanders' staff sent an e-mail to all subscribers and asked how the recession was affecting their lives.

The booklet came out on Monday around the same time President Barack Obama released his budget.
"Many of them are just, in a sense, very difficult to read because it comes right from the heart of people," Sanders said. "People from all walks of life and from all parts of the state and all age groups."

Six of those interviewed were from Windham County, including an 81-year-old Brattleboro woman identified only as Thelma who spoke of the future job market for her children and grandchildren.
"This uncertain situation in the job market now has many young people worried. My husband passed away this past summer, and my income has been cut, but I have always been a good manager, and will survive," she said.

An unnamed Guilford resident said his retirement "nest egg" has devalued, forcing him back to a part-time position. "Second impact has been the escalation of prices for things we normally buy. It's almost as bad as when [Jimmy] Carter was president. Worst economic times for me, personally," he added.

Elsewhere in the state, residents shared their economic woes with the senator.

Twenty-six-year-old Matthew Renninger of Barre was the first in his family to attend college, but now, faced with massive loans and limited prospects, he questions if the degree was worth the mounting debt.

After graduating from Dickinson School (3) of law at Penn State University with $150,000 in student debt, Renninger has moved into a small apartment back in his hometown where he is studying for the bar exam later this month.

"I had hoped to be able to support not just myself by this point, but be able to think about settling down and starting a family," he said. "My family always told me that an education was the ticket to success, but all my education seems to have done in this landscape is make it impossible to pull myself out of debt and begin a successful career."

Hartford business owner Dennis Cogan, 61, operates a Laundromat currently struggling through the recession.

"The economic downturn has hit my customer base, perhaps the hardest," he said. "Unemployment, underemployment, etc., has pushed them to a point where even taking care of necessities like laundry is an economic challenge. Obviously their inability to do something as basic as laundry has affected me as well."

Sanders, who plans to read some of the letters on the Senate floor this week, said he hopes the tales from the booklet will raise awareness that there still are people hurting in this economy and that those Vermonters will realize they are not alone.

"I think it's important for people to understand that it's not just them," he said. Shortly after his interview with the Reformer, Sanders went to a subcommittee hearing about the future of green jobs, one industry he believes could help jumpstart the economy.

"We must make certain that Americans are not hungry, cold, homeless or without health care. We must vigorously protect those social programs which protect the lives and well-being of tens of millions of Americans -- including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veteran programs."