How old is she ? What ethnicity ? What edcucational background does she have ? I'd have gotten rid of the 3 dogs before losing my job over them, and allowing having them to hinder my living conditions/job/income. I have dogs, love them, but they're just animals. How big is her house ? Can she get a roomate to split the utilities ? Can she take night classes at a local college ?
Many people worse off than this woman, I gaurantee.
I agree there are people much worse off, but her story of falling into the working poor is very common and not what most people think of when thinking of poor.