Diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and hypertension in 2002, I was given nothing other than a couple of prescriptions and two supposedly mutually-incompatible diet sheets. Fortunately, I'd spent the previous 15 years in a special-libraries environment (engineering), so I knew how to search for the health information I needed and how to separate the wheat from the chaff. My experiences learning to live a low-sodium, d-friendly life on a budget have made me sensitive to the financial and dietary issues facing many people living with T2DM. Unfortunately, life has thrown the same real-life issues (family, monetary, cultural) that many of my lower-income, ethnically-diverse, high-T2-risk neighbors are facing.