Welfare, Work and Raising Children
Conversations
with Twenty-One Maine Families
Lisa
Bangor, Maine
"It's been a real struggle. I hope
that someday I can just earn enough to give my kids at least some of what
other kids have-they don't understand why they have so much less than their
friends. The $7.25 an hour that I'm making now at my new job is the most
I've ever earned, but even though I'm working full time, it's still really
hard to make it as a single parent on these wages. If I could make just one
change in the TANF program it would be to allow parents to really get on
their feet before they take everything away."
I live in Bangor with my three children. They
are 13, 8, and 4 years old. I just got a new job working as a personal care
attendant. I'll be starting at $7.25 an hour, working full time. My TANF has
already been reduced, and it will be ending very soon. I'm glad about my new
job, because at least I'll be able to be home most nights and weekends with
my kids. Before, I worked in retail and there were a lot of nights that I
couldn't be home to cook my kids' supper or read to them at bedtime. I'm
just trying to raise my kids to do the right thing and spending time with
them when they are young matters a lot. My new job also pays a little
better; my last job paid only $6.25 an hour.
Even though this new job is better, I'm still
worried that I won't be able to make ends meet. I won't get any sick leave,
so every time that I have to stay home with a sick child I'll lose pay. That
could put a big hole in our budget. In the past, my children and I have been
homeless because we didn't have enough money to pay the rent and I never
want that to happen to us again. Even last month when I was working I had to
go to the City for help with our rent. I also had to pay $68 to fix the
brakes on my old car. That may not sound like much to some people, but for
my family it was a real financial crisis. It would be a big help if I could
keep my TANF for a little longer until we got our feet a little more solidly
on the ground.
I am grateful that my family will be able to
keep Medicaid when we lose TANF, but I worry about the time when we go just
over the limits for that program too because I know that I won't be able to
pay for private coverage. Last year, after my husband left me, everything
seemed to fall apart. He had been emotionally abusive to me for a long time.
I had a major emotional breakdown and had to be hospitalized for two weeks.
Since then I've been in counseling which is really helping me a lot. I've
been also taking medication because I've been diagnosed with major
depression. Without the help that I have gotten from the Medicaid Program in
the last year I really don't think that I would be working today.
