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How The Pain Of The Shutdown Ripples Throughout A Small Louisiana Town

Justin Boyd, 32, cuts a customer's hair at New Age Barber Shop in downtown Oakdale, La. During an average week before the shutdown, Boyd says, he would give about 20 to 25 haircuts per day and clear about $300. Since the shutdown, that has dropped to $180 on a good day.
William Widmer for NPR
Justin Boyd, 32, cuts a customer's hair at New Age Barber Shop in downtown Oakdale, La. During an average week before the shutdown, Boyd says, he would give about 20 to 25 haircuts per day and clear about $300. Since the shutdown, that has dropped to $180 on a good day.

For government workers who haven't been paid in more than a month, the shutdown is feeling increasingly dire. Savings are drying up; bills are coming due.

The people of Oakdale, La., are among those feeling the pressure. The city of about 8,000 is in the middle of the state — more than three hours' drive from New Orleans or Houston.

A mural on an empty commercial building in downtown Oakdale reflects the small town's logging history.
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William Widmer for NPR
A mural on an empty commercial building in downtown Oakdale reflects the small town's logging history.

A federal prison there was one of the most reliable employers, providing good salaries and benefits. The typical family in Oakdale has an income of about $30,000 a year. The starting salary at the prison is about $35,000.

Now, many of the roughly 400 people employed by the Oakdale Federal Correctional Complex are facing extreme decisions about how to keep their families afloat — with effects that are rippling throughout the community.

Tiffany Kirklin and her husband, James (shown above with their daughters, from left, Abbie, 7, Mandi, 12, and Natalee, 9), have both worked at the Oakdale Federal Correctional Institution for five years. Now, they're still working 40 hours a week, without pay, and James has taken a second job at a convenience store.

"It makes your self-worth go down when you can't support your own self," James says. "Especially when you're used to having two government incomes, and you have nothing."

Tiffany has spent hours on the phone with creditors, asking to delay car payments, insurance payments. She canceled the cable. In their kitchen, the deep freezer is mostly empty.

"The other day we were in the grocery store and ... Natalee asked for something. I just kind of broke down in the grocery store because we've never not had money for extra food," Tiffany says. "Now we might not have had the extra money to go bowling, but we've never not had the extra money. I've never deprived my kids of food."

"The longer it goes, it's kind of like the light's dimming," says James. "Most people can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The light's going away for us, because it doesn't seem like it's going to get any better."

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William Widmer for NPR

Corey Trammel (left) is president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3957. Ronald Morris is president of AFGE Local 1007. It's the union that represents the local prison workers.

"I've thought of a whole lot that could go wrong in a prison setting, but never to have an employee look me in the eyes and tell me, 'I cannot afford child care; I cannot afford gas to get to work; I can't afford my mortgage,' " Trammel says. "How do you answer something like that?"

Employees of the Oakdale Federal Correctional Complex say inmates sometimes taunt them now. "A lot of them think it's funny," says Tiffany Kirklin. "One inmate told me he made more this month than I have. And it's true because he got a paycheck and I did not." The pressures are intense. One prison guard attempted suicide recently. (He is expected to make a full recovery.)
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William Widmer for NPR
Employees of the Oakdale Federal Correctional Complex say inmates sometimes taunt them now. "A lot of them think it's funny," says Tiffany Kirklin. "One inmate told me he made more this month than I have. And it's true because he got a paycheck and I did not." The pressures are intense. One prison guard attempted suicide recently. (He is expected to make a full recovery.)
/ William Widmer for NPR
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William Widmer for NPR

There are many things people aren't able to afford anymore — even special, discounted $5 meals at Burger Inn, the fast-food restaurant in Oakdale that the family of Megan Crawford (above) has operated for 14 years.

The restaurant's business has fallen off dramatically since the shutdown.

"It affects us as a business down to our employees. We're cutting hours of our employees, cutting workers altogether because we're not having the influx," Crawford says.

Rodrick James owns and operates Canal Coffee Co. in downtown Oakdale. Federal workers fueled the small businesses in town. "That's now got to cease when you not getting a paycheck," he says. "So everybody starts suffering on the back end of this."
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William Widmer for NPR
Rodrick James owns and operates Canal Coffee Co. in downtown Oakdale. Federal workers fueled the small businesses in town. "That's now got to cease when you not getting a paycheck," he says. "So everybody starts suffering on the back end of this."
/ William Widmer for NPR
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William Widmer for NPR

Even the office of Oakdale Mayor Gene Paul (above) is feeling the pain. The executive assistant is married to a prison employee who is working without pay. The mayor's own wife is one of the government workers not getting a salary right now.

The end of the month is approaching and people's bills are due. At least this is one place Paul says the city can help: He has vowed not to cut water or sewer services for anyone who can't pay.

And even when this crisis is over, the mayor says, there's a bigger fear.

"It's a long-term insecurity," he says. "Because you don't know what's gonna happen a year from now — they gonna play with me next year?"

Empty commercial buildings flank local businesses on 10th Street in downtown Oakdale.
/ William Widmer for NPR
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William Widmer for NPR
Empty commercial buildings flank local businesses on 10th Street in downtown Oakdale.
The sun sets behind a residential home in downtown Oakdale.
/ William Widmer for NPR
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William Widmer for NPR
The sun sets behind a residential home in downtown Oakdale.

Maureen Pao adapted this story for the Web. Dave Blanchard, Gus Contreras and Jolie Myers produced and edited the audio versions of this story.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's award-winning afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. During his first two years on the program, listenership to All Things Considered grew at an unprecedented rate, with more people tuning in during a typical quarter-hour than any other program on the radio.