It's a busy day at the Biolife Plasma Donation Center in Latham. Just inside the entryway, there's a bank of computers where prospective donors fill out applications. Every workstation is full.
Once applicants are approved, they're taken to a treatment area and hooked up to a machine that takes a plasma sample. Then, as compensation for their time, they're given a BioLife debit card. The amount of money on the card depends on a few factors, but some people walk away from a donation session with a couple hundred dollars.
"They said I didn't have a permanent home address, so they said I couldn't do it," says Kaila Siddon. She was hoping to donate today, but got turned away. "I recently lost my job, so it's kind of hard to find a job again." Siddon tells me she's hoping to raise "a decent amount" from donating plasma - enough to pay rent. She's living in a hotel at the moment, because she can't afford to sign a lease.
Paul Beatty is in a similar situation. "I'll be happy with 100 bucks," he says. "Me and my wife and kid, we need some food and stuff like that."
Paul says he recently got approved for disability, but the payments haven't started yet. He's been out of work for a few years. I ask him how he's been getting by. "Oh, jeez - borrowing money off of people, you know. My wife works here and there. Just scraping, basically."
Once the disability money starts flowing. Paul says he'll have about $3800 a month. He thinks that should be enough to support his wife and kid - but it'll still be tight. "I remember when I owned a house - I had it foreclosed - but I remember back in, let's see, the mid-2000's, you could go to Price Chopper and get a sirloin steak for like $2.99 a pound. Now it's like $6.99 a pound! I mean, I remember going in the market and seeing the egg for like $7 a dozen. I'd rather buy a chicken!"
"I think more and more as you see the economy change in the wrong direction, and people are struggling and suffering to pay bills, people are looking for other ways to make money," says Dr. James McDonald, commissioner of the New York State Department of Health. "You know, some people can make up to $1,000 a month by donating plasma. They have to, you know, decide for themselves if that's something they want to do, but I think it really speaks to how hard it's becoming in our country to afford things."
New York has 26 licensed plasma donation centers, including the new BioLife Center in Latham, which opened last month. Plasma, among other things, contains a protein that helps fight liver disease. Donating usually takes about an hour and a half. McDonald says it's well regulated and very safe. "A normal person can donate plasma twice a week. And people do."
Donating plasma - and being compensated for it - is not a new thing. McDonald says it's been happening for decades. But the circumstances that are driving people like Kaila Siddon and Paul Beatty to rely on it in order to pay the rent? Those, according to Siena University economist Aaron Pacitti, are unique. "All of the economic changes the US economy is going through are policy-induced, meaning the direct result of policies that the Trump administration has passed or is currently pursuing."
Pacitti says prices are going up because of President Donald Trump's tariffs, the war in Iran, and immigration policies that have gutted the agricultural labor force. Things people need to buy multiple times a week, like gas and groceries, have all gotten more expensive, and that means there's not much money left over for rent. "Inflation is something that hits lower and middle income households the hardest, because a lot of consumption is basic necessities - food, fuel, shelter, clothing. And lower income households spend a greater percentage of their income on those necessities. Part of the irony of this is that a lot of those individuals are, you know, were supportive of President Trump in the 2024 election."
Paul Beatty is one of those individuals. "I love Trump," he tells me. "He's, he's a good president, I think." I ask Beatty if he sees a connection between his circumstances and the president's policies. He takes a deep breath before replying. "I don't know," he says. "Because I know you don't want to mess with him, you know? And I know Iran, if they had nuclear weapons, are trying to get nuclear weapons, you know, he don't put up with that stuff, you know?"
Beatty also gets turned away from BioLife. He tells me he's going to try again tomorrow, but first he has to figure out how to get home. "I gotta...I need money just to get back to Schenectady on the bus, you know. I came up here on a bus. Just to get some extra cash, you know?"
