No health insurance

stresses poor lizbeth caceres

Lizbeth Caceres
Age: 46
Hometown: Washington, D.C.

Lizbeth Caceres moved to the United States from Nicaragua 25 years ago with the hope of achieving the "American Dream" and finding a better way to support her mother and two children.

But the only jobs she has been able to find have paid minimum wage.

She has been working at the McDonald's in the Pentagon earning $8.50 per hour for the past year. Before that, she worked at the Wendy's in the same building for 13 years.

"I get a lot of stress every day, thinking about how I'm going to be able to make payments on my bills," she said. "I get headaches and don't want to go to work because I'm depressed. I'm struggling every month to make ends meet for my family, and it shouldn't be like that."

She has arthritis, tendinitis and a serious heart condition, which her doctor says are only being exacerbated by working non-stop in the kitchen. Since she has no health insurance it's been hard to afford the $100 doctor visits and medicine.

What's your biggest stress? "Not to have health care and benefits at work. And that's even when I work in a government building."

What keeps you going? "The fact that I have to take care of my family."

First published June 24, 2014: 10:55 AM ET

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