Struggling with Addiction
—Alamance County, NC, aid recipient—
I’ve always been a working mother. I always worked in the healthcare center. I’m a nursing assistant and currently I lost my job due to family… I’m just going to say, problems. And, well, I’m just struggling right now. I just filed for unemployment. And I’m just trying to get back on my feet.
A couple years ago I did stay in a shelter. Me and my children. I’m a mother of seven, and we’re just struggling, struggling right now. And when I was staying at the shelter, I noticed that Triumph [non-profit specializing in counseling and rehabilitation], they only helped people that didn’t have children. I mean, a lot of those people got places that did not have children, but when I was there I could not be placed because they didn’t have the funds, and I had children. But I got me a job and I got our own place.
And recently, a month ago, I lost my job due to family problems and transportation and things of that matter. And I’m just trying to get back on my feet right now. You know, I put in a couple of job applications, but that’s what I’m doing. I’m just playing the waiting game. And in the meantime, my bills still got to be paid.
And it’s a struggle right now but I’m just going to keep, you know, I just keep praying about it and … because I’ve had, I”ve had, I’ve had a lot of struggles. I’ve had struggles with drugs, alcohol and a lot of that. How I lost my job matter of fact is I went to a detox center, and I didn’t call in for work. Because I just didn’t want to do that, you know what I’m saying? I’ve always worked and I’ve always maintained, but I just got tired of trying to maintain both.
So now, I was just trying to get it back together.
“Mary” lost her job in health professions and has sought aid. She is African-American, in her fifties, and was interviewed by Tom Mould, March 26, 2013.