I Am Not Ashamed To Be On Welfare
I've been receiving food stamps since 2012, when I lived in Hawaii. I was extremely mentally unstable, couldn't hold a job, and was starving. I swallowed my pride and applied for food stamps, and have been receiving them off and on ever since.
From the summer of 2013 until the fall of 2014, I was relatively stable. I had a full-time job, was being medicated for my various mental disorders, and wasn't receiving any government assistance. Then, I became pregnant with Josie and quit my job to move home. It was a good thing I did, because my pregnancy was stricken with sickness. I was unable to work during my pregnancy, and once again applied for food benefits through job and family services. I have since been on food assistance due to mental instability and not being able to hold a job due to that mental state.
When I became pregnant with Josie, I qualified for Medicaid and WIC. I was ashamed to be on both. When Josie was born, she also qualified for Medicaid and WIC, and I was even more ashamed to be on government assistance. I told myself that I was a crappy mother for having a daughter on welfare, and that I fit into that nasty stereotype of people who receive government assistance.
Josie is now almost 1.5 years old and we are still receiving government assistance, but my mind set toward it has changed.
I am no longer ashamed to be on welfare, and I refuse to be added to the unfair stereotype of single mothers on welfare. The stereotype is that young, single mothers who refuse to work are on welfare, spend their food stamps on junk, and spend the rest of their money on booze and cigarettes. That is not me, and that is not all of us who are on welfare.
I am on welfare because my mental illness prevents me from holding a full-time job right now, not because I refuse to work. I use my food stamps to nourish myself and my daughter, not to solely buy junk food. It's nobody's business what I spend the rest of my money on, but I can assure you that I put the needs of my daughter first.
I am on welfare because I need it to survive. I am unable to work full-time, and therefore do not have medical benefits. That's where Medicaid comes in. I have no income, and without food stamps I wouldn't be able to eat or feed my daughter. I do work part-time, but because I don't make enough money, Josie and I use WIC benefits to supplement what food that food stamps doesn't cover every month.
Government assistance is there for people like me; people who can't work and can't make ends meet. Sure, there are people who abuse the welfare system, and those people make the rest of us look bad. But the system is there to help families who need it.
I believe government assistance should be temporary. I am working so hard to not need government assistance in the future, and promise myself that being on welfare is temporary. Every day I am working toward mental stability, and each day I get closer to being able to hold a full-time job. Once I am mentally stable enough to work full-time, I will be able to provide for myself and my daughter without government assistance. I haven't set a deadline for this goal, because mental health recovery can't be rushed. But I am taking baby steps, and have already taken a big one by starting school and starting to work part-time.
I am not ashamed to be on welfare. It is temporary for my little family, and I am making strides every day to not need government assistance. I refuse to be stereotyped, and I refuse to be shamed.
I used to be so ashamed that I would hide my face in the grocery check out line while using my WIC or food stamps cards. And rightly so. People would glare at me or check out my purchases as if to approve them. I used to be ashamed to present my Medicaid card at the doctor. But no more. I buy my groceries and go to the doctor like any other person, knowing that I am doing what is best for my daughter and myself right now.
I used to be terrified of people finding out I was on welfare. But in protest of the stigma that surrounds people on government assistance, I admit it to you now. And I proudly say that I am not ashamed to be on welfare.
