TACOMA, Pierce County — When the pandemic hit in 2020, Debbie Wilkerson decided to retire early from her job at Jack-in-the-Box.
But it wasn’t really by choice, said the 64-year-old Tacoma resident. With schools shut down, she needed to home-school her 13-year-old grandson, James Carcione, who is on the autism spectrum, while her son continued to go to work.
Already struggling under a crush of debt — a hodgepodge of overdue bills, collection calls, court fines — the Wilkerson famil
![](https://www.cascadiadaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Newspaper_Filled_In-300x300.png)
Try us out
Enjoy 24 hours of unlimited digital access to CascadiaDaily.com for just $1!
Unlock the paywall