WI-20(II)

WI-20 (II)

A 40 year-old single mother living in Milwaukee diagnosed with Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder.

[The author's household includes herself and her two sons.]

1. HOUSEHOLD SUPPORT

Interviewer: How do you maintain you 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: On a day-to-day basis I receive monthly is what’s called W-2T which
is a transitional program for people who are waiting to be approved for SSI.
That’s where I am now and I have limited mobility so my sons do more of
maintaining the house, I’ve taught them through the years how to clean, how
to cook, how to take care of themselves so their basically at that age where
they can take care of themselves and they can also help me. I receive $628
a month for the three of us. I pay $600 for rent. I have a phone bill that
is $27 so I have no extra money. I visit neighborhood pantries to keep
food. Friends help me out with groceries, a little change here and there.
Basically that’s it. That’s how I maintain. It’s a day-to-day thing I have
to do. I have to figure out how I’m going to provide transportation for my
sons every day, to go back and forth to school every day because they have
to catch the city bus and I’m fortunate enough that my oldest son attends
UWM and gets a free ride, a free bus pass, but the other one I still have to
figure out each week how he’s going to get there so I’m constantly thinking,
“What can I do this time? Can I make something? Can I sell something?”
It’s a hustle; I have to have a hustle because I have no other income. I
can’t work. The doctor’s took me off work.

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

2. CHILD WELL-BEING

Interviewer: How are your children doing in terms of their physical health,
their safety, and their academics and behavior in school (or behavior in day
care)?

Author: Physical health they are fine. My oldest son has an emotional
problem but the older he gets, the better he is. He goes to UWM now. He is
doing very well and he adapts to people fine. My youngest one goes to now
what’s called an alternative school and he is on the “A” list. I’m
concerned about their safety in this particular building because the
landlord just approached me the other day cause when I come in this door, I
don’t know what is going on in the outside world, I’m just concerned about
what’s going on in here, but I hear that they are selling drugs in the
apartment downstairs and the apartment up here and the landlord concern I’m
the only female, it’s a four unit place, in here with children. Granted my
boys are big but still they’re safety coming down those stairs and when they
are doing drug transactions at night they unscrew the light bulb so it makes
it dark downstairs and then the neighborhood is not one of the best
neighborhoods. You hear the police, paramedics, you hear gunshots all
through the night but we’re use to it. This is where we live. But this is
all I can afford. If I could afford better and get my children out of here
I would but at this point in time I can’t. My hands are tied. I’m just
doing what I can. Academic performance is terrific. My oldest son he’s not
into sports or anything. He’s into computers and he’s taking computer
science and he’s acing it. My youngest son he’s into sports and he plays
football, wrestles and has a scholarship to Florida State so we’re crossing
our fingers that he gets there. That’s all I can give my children is the
knowledge that there’s nothing better than education. Just keep going, keep
going, keep going and for me being a single parent and I’m their role model.
I can’t just say I don’t want you to just do what I say I want to set an
example for them. So even though it’s hard for me to get around, I’m back
in school. I’m going to try to show them something positive. I don’t care
how old you are; you are never too old to learn.

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

3. BASIC NEEDS

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 may
provide.

Author: Well like I said, I receive $628 a month which is really isn’t
nothing once I pay the rent of $600. With $28 left, I pay $27 for the
telephone and then I don’t even get $1. It’s a good thing that I receive a
little $47 child support check. That’s how I get my sons bus passes. As
far as the things we need around here, we all know that we can’t get them
like that so if we come across a $1 or something you know we get some
tissue. We have people that come by and actually donate tissue, soap
shampoo. They look out for us 'cause they know I can’t afford it. My
household is not meeting its financial basic needs. I only receive $628 a
month, rent is $600, and phone bill is $27. I have nothing left over. I
receive a $47 child support check, which enables me to get my sons back and
forth to school. Medical is fine. I’ve never had any problems with
medical. My oldest son, he doesn’t receive medical but me and my younger
son does. My oldest son doesn’t receive any benefits because he is 19 years
but they keep questioning me as to where he works at and what type of job he
has. They want to see check stubs. Why? He is not even on my benefits.
He hasn’t been for two years so why would they want that information. I
mean I will give it to them but I don’t see a need for it, I really don’t,
cause you’re not giving me anything for him but our food stamps lasts from
month to month and basically that is because my oldest son has chosen to be
a vegetarian because he’s 6’5” and wears a size 19 shoe and he put away food
and so can my youngest one. But by him being a vegetarian, usually just
eats vegetables or potatoes or things like that so that was a big help. The
pantry provides a lot of the things that he likes to eat besides meat. They
provide that and that helps to go a long way. It really does and I
appreciate it, all the pantries around here, and everyone that ever helps
me, I’m very, very fortunate to have that 'cause we wouldn’t make it. We
really wouldn’t.

Interviewer: How well your family is meeting its basic needs (e.g., food,
clothing, housing, medical care, education). Things that help your family
meet its basic needs?

Author: The pantries help me met our basic needs because members of the
pantries bring soap and tissue, dishwashing liquid, you know, just the basic
things that I just really can’t afford and that helps a lot. Some times I
get bleach, some times they give me washing powder and I don’t know if this
is actually coming from the pantry or just a personal person who is just
like my little angel that is looking out for me because every month like
clockwork I get a box. In this box are the basic things that I need and
it’s great.

Interviewer: Things that interfere with making ends meet?

Author: Times when W-2, I don’t want to say they screw-up, but for some
reason I’m suppose to have a review and the computer didn’t catch it. When
the computer don’t catch when it’s time for you to have a review, it will
close your case out and shift it to another branch so someone else contacts
you from another branch and if your case has closed, then you have to go
through the process all over again. I have one worker that helps me very
well. The different offices are broke up into three offices. One handles
the cash flow, one handles food stamps and one handles medical. All three
of those are different. I used to go on 12th and Vliet for medical, now
it’s the Court House. I go to 70th and Greenfield for cash. I go to 7th
and Hillside for food stamps and that’s just too much. But by the grace of
God we make it every month. But we don’t have enough money. My younger son
just got a little job at McDonald’s and that is to help him get you know
like shoes, things that I can’t provide for him anymore. Like his clothes,
like his first check is $54. What are you going to do with $54? But he
bought a jacket, personal need things and a bus pass for next week, which
helps me out. And I’m like that’s good; you know I taught him, I think I
have taught him well to look out for, not just himself, but also everyone in
the household. So that’s good.

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

4. HOUSING

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,
childcare and for visiting relatives.

Author: Visiting relatives, where I live, my mother lives six blocks away
so that is convenient. For all of us going to school, it’s convenient
because we have the 27, the 57, the 30, the 31. We are all around bus
stops. This particular house, I was the first person to move in it in
August when the landlord bought it and it was roach infested and he wouldn’t
do anything. So I stayed on him and I stayed on him and called the Health
Department and everything and now we’re rid of it and I like it. It’s
small, it’s too small. It’s just two bedrooms. Like I said, I have two
sons, 6’3” and 6’5” and both of them have the itty bitty room but like I
said to them, “we have a roof over our head and this is what we call home
and you’ve got to deal with it.”

Interviewer: Safety of the neighborhood.

Author: Safety of the neighborhood is not good at all. I’m concerned about
my sons every night that they are out there cause that’s all I hear is
gunshots and I don’t want my sons to be victims, you know, happen to be
standing there crossing the street. My older son has an emotional problem.
He likes to walk. He paces, he likes to pace so he’ll pace from the house
to the corner, he’ll stand there and then he’ll look around. I have to tell
him “you look like a drug dealer, don’t do that, people are going to mistake
you, they’re going to think you are on the corner trying to sell some drugs”
and all it is, is that he’s just standing there looking and he’s the type,
he’ll walk up to you and it could be a drug transaction and say “hey you
know that’s wrong, I’m going to call the police.” He knows that it is wrong
to sell drugs. But he doesn’t understand that was a hazardous move that he
made because he could have been seriously hurt and I’m still trying to
explain those things to him. He’s a giant baby. He’s 19 years-old and he
just…[inaudible]. Right now he’s into school and videos.

Compared to two years ago, my housing is much worse.

5. EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING

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 been diagnosed as having PTSD, which is Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder, and of major depression and I have a seizure disorder. So
all of those things wrapped in together, my emotional state sometimes is not
really good. I sometimes go off when I shouldn’t. Sometimes, like
yesterday, I’ll just sit here and cry for no apparent reason and I’m like
why am I doing this and I’ll remember that I’m depressed but I’m seeking
counseling for it. I also have my children go with me even though their not
showing any signs of it for you to be in here with me on a day-to-day basis,
but it has be rubbing off on somewhere. That’s what I’m thinking and the
doctor thinks it’s a good idea that they come in and they talk too so it’s
kind of like a family thing and without my counselor I don’t know where I’d
be. I swear I don’t. I’ve tried suicide several times, I’ve been down and
now I’m back up and I don’t want to where I was so and I know I need to keep
talking to her because when things get down and bad that first thought is “I
don’t need to be here” I could kill myself and it would all be over with but
that was stinking thinking. I don’t think that way anymore and I’m glad.
I’m glad; I love life.

Interviewer: The feelings that you have been experiencing the most lately.
How these feelings influence your work.

Author: They had no bearing on my work. They seemed to have gotten worse
after I stopped working. Because I don’t work in the work field anymore, I
worked all my life since I was 15 and for the doctor to just come in and say
you just absolutely, positively can’t work ever again in life, that really
just blew my mind. It’s like what am I going do now, financially, trying to
get these kids off to college and everything and now it’s like the rug was
pulled out from under me but I keep my head up and I take one day at a time.

Interviewer: The feelings that you have been experiencing the most lately,
what are they?

Author: Anger. Depressed. I’m angry because I’m depressed. I’m anger
because I would like my sons to have more but I can’t give it to them. I
mean we’re broke down to where I use to receive anywhere from $2500-$3000 a
month, where I’m broke down to $628. I mean that’s a big dip. We never
have any money left over to do anything. The most enjoyment we get is as a
family is to walk down the street together, to a park and sit and talk.
Recreational things, we don’t get that. I would like to go bowling, go to a
movie or something with my sons but we don’t have that type of luxury. We
read books. That’s our enjoyment. That’s all we get.

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

6. EMPLOYMENT

Interviewer: Tell us about your current or last job. Describe the type of
job, whether the wages, benefits, and hours are/were sufficient, and what
kinds of training and advancement opportunities there are/were, if any.
Your current job/last job.

Author: I don’t have a current job. The last job I worked at Milwaukee
Hilton Hotel, downtown. I was 2nd shift supervisor. In two years I went
from a room attendant to a desk clerk to supervisor, which is actually
something I was striving to get at. My thing was I was trying to get up to
be manager but they snatched me out. It had medical; it had all the
benefits. We could use the hotel, the water park. It had great benefits
and those helped my children out cause they liked the water park. I liked
my job and I liked working.

Interviewer: The wages, benefits, and hours of your current job or last
job. The kinds of training and advancement opportunities that exist or
existed in the job, if any.

Author: We could take hotel management programs that they offered and they
offered to pay for your school if you chose to go back to school. At the
time they offered it, I’m like I don’t want to manage hotel management.
That’s all I was thinking that the program entailed in just managing hotels.
Now I’m into the program, which is business, which is one of the things
they require, and I don’t know why I’m taking business. I can’t work
anymore but maybe it will help one of my sons.

Compared to two years ago, the wages and benefits of the job I have now are
worse. [scale does not apply]

Interviewer: Is there anything else you would like to add about the welfare
reform?

Author: I think the W-2 reform needs to be reformed because I think this is
not working. You get the benefits for two years. In January my benefits
run out. What am I going to do after that? I won’t have any dependent
children. It will just be me. What will I do then? I am able to work and
not on disability. It can take up to a year before I get back into court.
So will I get into court before my benefits are up? If not, what am I going
do? That needs to change. Something needs to change

7. BASIC FACTS

Your community or neighborhood of residence: Milwaukee
Gender: Female
Last year of school completed: high school
GED:
Race: African American
Ethnicity:
Does your partner, spouse or co-parent live in the household? Yes
Do you currently receive any cash public assistance (TANF)? Yes

Manner in which story was originally given: Tape-recorded