I recently had an article published for Yahoo news about being on food stamps and how I feel about it. I have been reading the responses that have been pouring in and I am just so disappointed with people and what they've said. Not all people, mind you. There are some who are willing to give the benefit of the doubt in that this article was not the full story and that there is more of an explanation. I have to say to those people: you are right, that's not all there is to this story.
The article states that I have been on food stamps for 18 years, which is not accurate. I first received food stamps 18 years ago as a single teen mom. I was only on them for a little more than a year, during which I got married. Between the two of us, our incomes exceeded the guidelines. That is to say, we were making too much to get them. Which was fine by us.
We got divorced after two years of marriage and my job by itself was not enough to cover the food expenses. By this time I had two children to care for, so I went back on food stamps. I'm glad I did because shortly after that, I lost my job. That time, due to a lot of different circumstances, it took me a while to find a job that would support my little family. Minimum wage, no matter what you may think, just doesn't support a family of three. Especially not with daycare costs for two kids.
Why not apply at McDonald's? Oh, I did that. And Wendy's, and Taco Bell, and Burger King and other various restaurants and fast food places. I was told that I was over qualified for each and every one. I got frustrated and dumbed down my resume and was told that I wouldn't be happy there for long and that's why they wouldn't hire me. I applied everywhere there was an opening. I even worked at Goodwill on the work share program through the Job Council while I was looking so I could pay rent. I got a whopping $350 a month cash and $300 food stamps for a full time job on that program. But I felt better to be working for my benefits and it looked good on a resume that I wasn't sitting idle. I could take off time whenever I needed it for interviews and such as well. They also helped with job resources that no one else had, including a personal Job Coach.
It took a little while on that program, but I finally did it! I landed that job that would support my family and allow us to get off food stamps. After working for a year and a half, the company downsized and my position was one of the ones to go. I was devastated. I had held all kinds of jobs from sales to housekeeping to maintenance, house painting to data entry to telemarketing. Out of all of them, there was only one that paid enough to get off assistance. Before you ask, no, neither of my older girl's fathers have ever paid a cent of child support or helped out in any way. The state did go after them both for payment, but that didn't help at all.
With my divorce I was left with a lot of my ex-husband's medical bills that he refuses to pay. I also had a lot of utility shut offs due to lack of employment. When I was working, it was just enough to cover rent and basic necessities, like diapers, daycare (because even on assistance, there is a co-pay), a car to get to work and back and gas. If we needed clothes, it was always second hand stores. I don't remember ever being able to buy my older girls anything brand new except a pair of shoes every now and then, and then, Walmart has cheap shoes. But with a limited income, I had to pick and choose which utilities to pay and sometimes they went to collections. I'm still trying to pay on all that, as well as keep up with the current bills.
Another bill that I'm paying on: my student loan. My husband has one too. I was not able to complete college because the final courses I needed weren't offered all at once, and if you've ever had financial aide, you would know that they require you to attend full time to receive it. I had to try to find a job while figuring out how to pay for my last few classes, raise two girls by myself and after six months, my student loan was called in. So we are trying to pay those off as well, and until they are out of default, no more financial aid for school.
Some of the people who have read that article are making comments of how I probably have cable and cell phones and an expensive car. I want to talk to you people for a moment. No, I don't have cable. I have never been able to afford it! We have cell phones, but they are the prepaid ones and there are months when we have to let them get shut off because we can't afford them. I will not take an Obama phone. I think that program should only be for people needing phones for potential employers to contact them on. As for our car, we have an early 2000 model that the transmission is going out on because we can't afford to fix it. We haven't even been able to afford an oil change since last winter. Oh, and to address one more thing I've seen people comment on, no, my husband, who really does have A-typical Autism (that means Autism but can function socially for the most part) is not on disability. Not that he doesn't qualify, he would just prefer to work for the money to support his family. We do have internet. It's the one expense we agreed on because it will allow my to find online work while being able to care for our daughter so we won't have daycare expenses as well as help Jon in the areas he needs it so that he is able to keep his job.
Oh, and I do have a part time job, which is where the little income I provide comes from. Once again, it's something I can do from home while taking care of my baby. There are a few people who read that article and took it as I'm receiving $600 a month for daycare that I don't use. I just want to say, read the article again. It does not say that. What it says is that if I were to work a full time job out of the home, it would cost $600 a month for daycare. Nowhere does it say that I receive that amount.
It will be three years in December since Jon and I got married, and yes, we have a cute little two year old. Is this the life I want for her? Not even. But we are working to change that. As for my other two, one lives with her dad who supports her fully now, and the other is out on her own. I'm sure you're wondering if she's the next generation to be on food stamps and I'm proud to say that she is not. She works a full time job and supports herself completely. Something she's proud of! I've always encouraged my kids not to be on assistance if they could help it.
Since nothing else has ever worked out, now I'm trying writing. It's something that I'm good at without having to put my child in daycare (which would cost taxpayers even more, by the way) and all I need is to find a company or two or three that I can write for. The food stamp article was actually my very first paid article. I've written some others and they are performance pay, which means, if they aren't getting views, I don't get paid. I've made thirty cents total with those. If you really want to help, go look at those so I can get paid more and get assistance less. If I can get more writing assignments, I can get off assistance completely. I also have a book that I self published (for free) through Createspace and I'm trying to get it noticed through one of the large publishing houses. That would help to be able to stay off food stamps and any other kind of public assistance. Like I said before, I have tried many times to get off assistance, and this time I'm trying something new.
Not that my life is anyone's business, but I'm tired of people telling me that I have no business having kids and that I am an awful person. I am not an awful person. If you really cared about my family being on assistance then you would do what you could to help us get off it (like reading my other articles). As it is, I just suspect that you only want something to complain about. So until you have walked in my shoes and lived my life, I just want to say, get off my back. You obviously aren't perfect or you wouldn't be writing the nasty things that you are. Just saying.
To those who are defending me, even though you don't know me, God bless you! We need more people like you in this world. I know that you would want to help us, so I'm asking you to please check out my other articles and spread the word for my book. The more I'm able to get my work out there, the faster it will be until I'm off assistance altogether!
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