A 57 year-old woman with Parkinsons living with her son and granddaughter in Huntingdon, TN.

[The author's household includes herself, her 27 year-old son and her 14 year-old granddaughter.]

Interviewer: How do you maintain your household on a day-to-day basis? Describe the resources you use to make the household run and how you supervise the children, including any assistance from outside your circle of family and friends.

Author: I get a check from AFDC [Aid for Families with Dependent Children] and I have to put part of that up for my light bill and than use the rest for my necessity here in the house, such as personal items for the bathroom and kitchen and stuff. Then I receive a check from the apartment building—the management, you know, that makes up the difference in my light bill. And then my older son helps with the cable bill, telephone; him and my youngest son.

Compared to two years ago, supporting my household today is harder.

Interviewer: How your children doing in terms of their physical health, their safety, and their academics and behavior in school?

Author: She is doing good in school and her behavior in school is good. She need some help with her math and different thing in there. I am going to a meeting for that, but she mostly does real good.

Interviewer: Physically do you feel that your children are healthy?

Author: Yes.

Interviewer: And their safety.

Author: Yes.

Interviewer: And you said she was doing good and everything; she just have to have help [on] occasion with math.

Author: Yes.

Compared to two years ago, the general well-being of my children is better.

Interviewer: How well is your household meeting its basic needs? Describe the things that affect your family’s ability to meet its basic needs, including adequacy of earned income, public benefits you may use (TANF, Medicaid, Food Stamps SSI), and help with basic needs that other people my provide. That is such as food, housing and clothes and your medical care.

Author: Yes it is good.

Interviewer: Do you feel like that the income that you have is adequate?

Author: No.

Interviewer: So you do not feel like that you have adequate income to meet your need that you have?

Author: No, it barely pay the bills.

Interviewer: What sort of things help your family meet their basic needs?

Author: My grown sons and daughter.

Interviewer: Do you receive any kind of assistance other than your AFDC?

Author: No.

Interviewer: What kind of things interferes with you being able to meet your basic needs?

Author: The lack of money.

Compared to two years ago, my family’s ability to meet its basic needs is worse.

Interviewer: How well is your housing meeting your family’s needs? Describe how well it fits the size of your family, its physical condition, the safety of the neighborhood, and how convenient it is for work, school, and childcare and for visiting relatives.

Author: Yes.

Interviewer: Do you believe it is?

Author: Yes, except for visiting relatives. My family lives in Michigan.

Interviewer: Your housing it is big enough for your family and the neighborhood is it safe here?

Author: Yes.

Compared to two years ago, my housing is better [because they have being doing a lot of improving inside and outside].

Interviewer: What feelings have you been experiencing the most lately? Describe how this influences your work and parenting, and whether you have sought help for any of these feelings.

Author: I have being depressed.

Interviewer: Have that influenced your parenting or any work that you might do?

Author: Well, I don’t work, I have Parkinson’s Disease.

Interviewer: Have that improved your parenting any?

Author: No.

Interviewer: Have you sought any help for being depressed?

Author: Yes.

Interviewer: Have you sought outside help?

Author: Yes.

Compared to two years ago, my emotional well-being is unchanged, [I feel the same].

Interviewer: I know you don’t work now, but if you can tell me about your last job you had, was the wages okay, did you have benefits, was the hours sufficient and did you have to have any kind of training or were there any advancement opportunity were you worked at the last time?

Author: No.

Interviewer: Where did you work at the last time?

Author: I worked in a nursing home, in the laundry department.

Interviewer: Were there the wages and benefits okay there.

Author: It was minimum wages.

Interviewer: Did you have any type of insurance?

Author: No.

Interviewer: And you did have to have any kind of special training?

Author: No.

Interviewer: Were there any advancement opportunity, could you have advanced and done different jobs.

Author: No.

Compared to two years ago, the wages and benefits of the job I have now are: scale does not apply to me (no job now).

7. FAMILY SERVICE COUNSELING

Interviewer: What, if anything, has changed for you as a result of your involvement with the Family Service Counseling program? You can talk about any area of your daily life, but you might consider the subject we have been talking about:

The way you run your household,

Your children’s behavior,

The way you handle your basic needs,

Your housing situation,

The way you feel and how you are doing personally,

Your job situation.

And this, the Family Services Counselors and that would be Mr. Clayton. The Family First program you have been working with. What areas of your life have he helped you with?

Author: When you come over an talks and make the arrangements for the rides to Memphis to see the Neurologist. And just having to come over and be able to talk, I believe he understand. My worker that I have there at DHS [Department of Human Services] is real understanding and real sweet. She does all she can to help.

Your community of neighborhood of residence: Huntingdon-Hill Court Circle

Gender: Female

Last year of school completed: 11^th grade

GED: Yes

Race: White

Ethnicity: N/A

Does your partner, spouse or co-parent live in the household? No

Do you currently receive any cash public assistance (TANF)? Yes

Manner in which story was originally given: Tape recorded