A 24 year-old single mother working as a cashier at a fast food restaurant and raising her 7 year-old daughter.

1. HOUSEHOLD SUPPORT

Interviewer: The first topic we’re going to cover is household support. Tell me about how you maintain your household on a day-to-day basis.

Author: Normally I just clean it. I get her [daughter] off at school, that’s the first thing I do, and the days I’m not working I do the housework.

Interviewer: Tell me about the resources you use to run your household—such as putting food on the table, paying bills, paying rent—what resources do you use to do those things?

Author: Uh, it’s hard to explain. Of course I cook every night and with the help of DHS [Department of Human Services], I can actually put food on my table. So—

Interviewer: As far as paying your utilities and rent, are you able to use money from DHS and your job that covers that?

Author: Yes, that helps me out a whole lot.

Interviewer: Um, do you find that you have time to supervise your child?

Author: Yes, I keep a close eye on her. I watch her. She’s my life, so I make sure she doing the right things, I make sure she eats the rights things.

Interviewer: Um, you don’t find that having to work gets in the way of that?

Author: No, because my job works around her school schedule. After she goes to school, I go to work. And she’s in Kool Kids where, I work, she’s out of school an hour after I get off work—in day care.

Interviewer: Do you get assistance with that child care?

Author: Yes sir. DHS helps me on that too.

Interviewer: Tell me about the quality of that child care—is that working out?

Author: It’s really good, it works out good. 'Cause she don’t have to leave school, she goes straight to her daycare—it’s in the school. So she goes from her class straight there. So it helps out a whole lot.

Interviewer: No transportation problem with that?

Author: No.

Interviewer: Do you receive assistance paying for rent?

Author: Yeah, I’m in uh, government assisted housing, I live in [housing]. And they help me out there too.

Compared to two years ago, supporting my household today is easier. [interviewer asked this question at the end of the child-well being section]

Interviewer: Tell me about um, we’re next going to cover child well being. Tell me about your daughter’s physical health. How is she physically?

Author: She very healthy.

Interviewer: Do you feel like she’s safe?

Author: Yes I do. She’s probably safer than most kids.

Interviewer: So um, you don’t feel like your neighborhood is a problem as far as that goes.

Author: Not really.

Interviewer: And [how] does she do in school?

Author: She does really good. She smarter in some areas and some areas she still needs help on. She does wonderful in math. She does good in spelling. She’s doing really well.

Interviewer: And her behavior is not a problem?

Author: No, she’s got a good temperament. She’s like most kids, you know, make them mad—but she’s really good…[unintelligible].

Interviewer: Going back to supporting your household, compared to two years ago would you say supporting your household, you know, paying the rent, putting food on the table – is much harder, harder, unchanged, easier, or much easier? That’s thinking about back two years.

Author: It’s probably easier now because I have a job.

Interviewer: Compared to two years ago, would you say the general well-being of your daughter is much worse, worse, unchanged, better, or much better?

Author: It’s probably about the same.

Compared to two years ago, the general well-being of my child is unchanged.

Interviewer: About the same. Um, now we’re going to cover basic needs. Tell me about how well your family meets its basic needs, such as having enough food, having clothing, and housing.

Author: Well, we have everything we need. She’s got more clothes than I know what to do with. She’s got—we’ve got enough food. You know, what my stamps don’t cover, with my job we can go get some food. Um—

Interviewer: And as far as medical care goes?

Author: Medical care, it helps because I do have TennCare. And anytime I get sick I go straight to the doctor.

Interviewer: Tell me about the sources of income that you’ve got coming in.

Author: Uh, I got an AFDC [Aid to Families with Dependent Children] check, it’s $142. And I have a job, which, sometimes I clear a little bit more, sometimes I don’t. Here lately, I haven’t been able to work as much, so my checks are shorter.

Interviewer: Do you get paid every week?

Author: I get paid every two weeks.

Interviewer: About how much do you clear every two weeks, would you say?

Author: If I gave a good work schedule, I’d say about $200. If I have a very bad work schedule which, I’m supposed to get paid today, it’s gonna be $40.

Interviewer: And that just depends on how much work you have?

Author: Yeah, it depends on—if she wants to give my hours to somebody else that may keep mine—

Interviewer: So it’s not steady hours?

Author: [No].

Interviewer: And then, so you’ve got your job, your AFDC check, and then Food Stamps?

Author: Yes.

Interviewer: About how much are your Food Stamps?

Author: $126.

Interviewer: And those are the only sources of income you’ve got coming in?

Author: Yes.

Interviewer: What kinds of things get in the way of you being able to make ends meet?

Author: Nothing, really. I mean, myself, I think I do pretty good. I mean I got my bills paid, she’s got a roof over her head, she’s got food, she’s got clothes, so—there’s really no sense…[unintelligible] 'cause everything seems to fit out, work out pretty good.

Interviewer: Compared to two years ago, um, do you think your family’s ability to meet its basic needs is much worse, worse, unchanged, better, or much better?

Author: It’s better.

Interviewer: It is better?

Author: Yes.

Interviewer: Is there anything in particular that’s made it better?

Author: My job. Because sometimes $142 sometimes is not enough to cover everything. But I appreciate the help they’re giving me. This makes it better that I have that job, and their support too.

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

Interviewer: The next topic we’re going to talk about is housing. Um, tell me about how well your housing meets your family’s needs.

Author: Well, it meets our needs pretty good with only two of us. It’s two-bedroom. It’s in a pretty good neighborhood. My manager, she keeps an eye on everything out there and not much bad stuff happens.

Interviewer: For instance, does it get repaired when you’ve got a problem, is there—?

Author: Yes. And if there’s a problem, I call my manager instantly, they’re there. They have somebody there to fix it. So it’s pretty good out there.

Interviewer: Is it convenient for you as far as getting to work and for her to get to school?

Author: For her to get to school, it’s perfect. And when she don’t have a way, and it’s summer, I can walk, it’s just up the road. Uh, from work—I work in Manchester. So it’s a pretty good distance. But like I said, for school, it’s perfect.

Interviewer: And your transportation to work is what?

Author: A cab. DHS helps me pay for that too.

Interviewer: Um, would you say compared to two years ago, your housing situation is much worse, worse, unchanged, better, or much better?

Author: It’s better.

Interviewer: It is better. Were you living in the same location two years ago?

Author: No. I just moved out. I’ve been here for about a year and a half. I actually have a place of my own now. And that’s good.

Compared to two years ago, my housing situation is better.

Interviewer: Um, the next section we’re going to cover is emotional well being. Um, tell me about the feeling you’ve been experiencing lately, as far as running your household, and just living.

Author: There are days, of course, you know, they’re like, you don’t want to do nothing. But most times I’m always happy and go lucky. And feel very lucky to have what I do have.

Interviewer: So, um, any bad feelings you have don’t seem to affect your work, or parenting?

Author: No, actually, my parenting—if I have a day where, you know, it’s like, 'Oh, this is not going right,' all I gotta do is look at my little girl…[unintelligible] and makes me instantly happy. So, I feel extremely lucky.

Interviewer: Um, would you say compared to two years ago your emotional well being is much worse, worse, unchanged, better, or much better?

Author: It’s probably the same, about the same.

Compared to two years ago, my emotional well-being is unchanged.

Interviewer: Um, tell me a little bit about your job.

Author: I’m a cashier at Wendy’s. And it’s an okay job. Sometimes I feel like it’s a dead-end job. Because I’ve been there for a year and probably about five months and I still ain’t really getting nowhere with the money. Uh, but it’s a good place to work. I don’t mind working there. It’s just—I eventually want to better myself.

Interviewer: Have you gotten a raise since you’ve been there?

Author: I’ve gotten two 15 cent raises.

Interviewer: And did you start at minimum wage?

Author: I started at 5.30.

Interviewer: But you don’t feel like there’s any opportunity to move up to management or anything like that?

Author: They always joke with me about being a manager. But I don’t want to do that because of all—when it comes to work…[unintelligible] and a manager is just too much for me. Plus, I do have a little bit…[unintelligible] and that would be too much for me. And I know my bounds.

Interviewer: Compared to two years ago, would you say your job situation is better than it was?

Author: It’s much better. Two years ago I didn’t have a job.

Compared to two years ago, the wages and benefits of the job I have now is better.

Interviewer: Now we’re going to talk a little bit about Family Services Counseling. Um really, just tell me anything you’d like to about how that program has helped you, or not helped you, what has changed for you as a result of working with Family Services Counseling.

Author: Well what I like most about it is I have somebody to talk to. And they’re professionals and they give me their input. And that’s what I like most about it. Nothing’s really changed, or anything else, it’s just the fact of talking to somebody.

Interviewer: What kind of things do you talk to them about?

Author: Uh, talk to them about my job. Stuff like that, 'cause there’s those days, you know, when I really don’t want to go there. And I just talk about different things—how much this one right here [daughter] means to me. And almost every time we talk, she is the topic, we talk just always about her.

Interviewer: Do you feel like they’ve, um, give you advice on any topics or is it more just listening?

Author: They give me advice, and they help me out, you know. And I listen, you know, they listen to me, just talking to them, they listen to me. Sometimes they ain’t saying nothing, but it’s good, it makes me feel better to get it off my chest. So that’s the reason I enjoy [it].

Interviewer: Is that something you feel you don’t get from your worker at DHS, is it a different feeling there?

Author: I really don’t know 'cause when I come in and talk to my caseworker, it’s more or less to recertify and stuff like that but when I come talk to them, it’s not about laying everything out, get everything set up, you know you can just talk to them. At work, I don’t talk about my personal problems at work. …[Unintelligible] co-workers. So, now I talk to my family about it too. I just don’t like to talk to people I don’t really know.

Interviewer: It just works better to have someone who’s neutral?

Author: Yeah.

Interviewer: Is there anything else you’d like to say about Family Services Counseling?

Author: [No].

Interviewer: Anything else you’d like to say about any other topic as far as Families First goes?

Author: I just appreciate their help. If it wasn’t for their help, I wouldn’t be able to get by.

Your community or neighborhood of residence: Tullahoma

Gender: Female

Last year of school completed: 9th grade

GED: No

Race: White

Ethnicity:

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