On A mother with five children living with her, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been unemployed for a very long time and is having some difficulty making sure that her kids can stay in school and are able to have adequate school supplies and clean clothes. Her children are 13, 9, 6, 5 and 3 years of age respectively.
“ I have been unemployed because of one of my children being sick, but has since passed away,” she said. “ Trying to get back into the working field is hard only because I don’t know what I want to do. It has been so long and there are also few jobs.”
The mother is currently on a six month assessment for financial assistance, which will carry her until August. Financial Assistance is partly based on source of income, of which she currently has none.
“ Whatever they give, I just accept and try to make due, but most times I find myself in situations wondering where the next meal is coming from because [what I receive] is just not enough,” she explained. “ I was receiving a substantial amount of money at one point and it was working for me, but now they’re doing cutbacks because there are a lot of people who need help and are unemployed, but I’ve heard things about people who may not really need the help getting more help than I do when I [most likely] have more children than they do.”
According to her, Financial Assistance wants to know about any hustles and gift certificates that she may receive and do their cutbacks based on that information.
“ I’ve had battles with Financial Assistance already, I’m currently in arrears on my rent which I’m trying to work out because I also have a standing eviction, housing has possession of the house but due to me making some progress before the pandemic came in, I can now come up with another payment plan which might be more feasible for me,” she said. “ I do not have a source of income, so I will be using some child support money to pay on the arrears.”
According to the woman, she owes over $11,000 in rental arrears to date. She is facing eviction for the second time.
Her children have been out of school not only because of the pandemic, but also because of low food supply, as she says she’s not the type of parent to send her kids to school without a healthy lunch.
“ I’m looking to better myself and to provide for my kids, so I hope that something happens for me this year,” she said. “ I want to be [employed] somewhere where I know I can be happy in the workplace and I know that it is something that I want to do . . . but I’m looking for a job babysitting, cashiering, types of jobs that I am already used to.”
She suffers from anxiety, depression and all the other everyday stresses faced by single parents, but she gets through.
“ I still am able to get up and parent my children with all of the mental and physical challenges that are behind me,” she said. “ There are reasons for me having as many children as I do, but they are like closure for certain things that I have been through in my life. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I take both good and bad credit from everybody. I take everything as it comes.”
Anyone that can assist with children clothing and Food supplies or vouchers, you can call TNN direct at 595-1027. Thank you in advance
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