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The stress of being laid off is hitting a lot of federal workers in the D.C. area, and some local businesses are trying to find ways to ease the burden.
Janay Austin-Carlson, the marketing manager at the Friendship Hospital For Animals in Northwest D.C., told WTOP, “It is a stressful time… we know better than most that emergencies happen.”
Carlson explained that’s because the animal hospital provides 24/7 emergency care for pets.
Friendship is waiving the cost of emergency and sick visit exams for laid off federal workers.
“We wanted people to be able to have their pet examined in the case of them being sick or emergent, and not have to worry about that exam fee overhead,” Carlson said. “We are also offering extended payment plans on all of our services.”
For example, Carlson said, a pet owner whose pet may be undergoing treatment with their oncology department, “We’re offering interest-free extended payment plans.”
Carlson said that some pet owners have already taken advantage of the plans, adding that this isn’t the first time Friendship has extended help to federal workers.
“We’ve offered a program like this in the past, during government shutdowns,” she said.
Help a fed ‘feel nice and warm’
For those federal workers looking for a way to drown their sorrows, they can do it for free thanks to a deal worked out at Right Proper Brewing Company in the Shaw neighborhood in D.C.
RPBC cofounder Thor Cheston explained, “anyone can purchase a beer at happy hour prices,” and each purchase is placed in a kiddie pool.
For just $8, you can pitch in to help buy a federal worker a pint under their new “Executive Order Me a Beer” initiative.
“And then, any federal worker can come in — we don’t need a story, we don’t need an explanation, we don’t need anything. They just need to show their federal ID and they get a beer out of the kiddie for free,” Cheston said.
“We’re not trying to make any kind of political statement, we’re just trying to help our community,” he said. “A lot of people are participating and it makes us feel nice and warm.”
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