One Mother's Relationship with Welfare

Aired September 30, 1999

Hello, this is INFOhio After Nine, I am David C. Barnett, basking in the sunshine here in our penthouse studios here at 30th and Chester, as we greet Thursday, September 30th, 1999. You don't have to be poor to be touched by the dramatic changes happening in public assistance in Ohio and in Cuyahoga County and all over Northeast Ohio. Tomorrow marks the one-year deadline for getting thousands of Ohioans off of welfare and into work. A couple of personal stories for you this morning, one from former Cleveland acamedician, Daisy Alfred Smith, who took over the reigns of Akron's public assistance program, she'll give us a progress report in a couple minutes, but first, as the countdown continues to that October 2000 deadline, it's 17,000 people actually on public assistance in Cuyahoga County that stand to be affected. 90.3 correspondent Harry Boomer spoke with one mother who has had an on-again, off-again relationship with the system.

Heather Westlake–I want things better in my life. I want to be able to do things on my own, without having to worry about from month to month how I'm going to get food for my son.

Harry Boomer–That's Heather Westlake. She is 23 years old, and a mother of three children. Heather moved from Ashtabula in August of this year. Just prior to moving to Cleveland, Heather worked for a year-and-a-half as a cashier at a Speedway truck stop in Austinburg. Her mother, who also worked there, got her the job. But that was not the first time she had followed her mother's lead. Now she wants to break the generational pattern of welfare dependency.

HW–I want things to be a lot better than what they are, better than-because when I was growing up, it was kind of bad, my mom was on welfare for almost eighteen years, and we worried from one year to another. My dream of Christmas time was a Christmas tree with presents everywhere. When we were younger, I think total, between the kids, we had maybe five or six presents between all of us, and I want something better for my children, I want something better for me.

HB (to HW)–Are you willing to do whatever it takes?

HW–Whatever it takes, whatever it takes.

HB–When Heather moved to Cuyahoga County, she went back on welfare to provide for her son, R.J. He lives with her and her fiancee on the near west side of Cleveland. Her other two children live with their father in Ashtabula. She says she moved to Cleveland so her fiancee could be closer to his family, and because she wanted a fresh start.

HW–When we first moved up here, the only thing we had was the money my fiancee had in his pocket. We got up here on the first of August, which I believe was a Sunday. By Monday, we had an apartment, and on Tuesday I had my job. I'm working as a telemarketer, and I'm making-I'm supposed to be making $8 an hour or commission, whichever is more, but I bring home about $80 to $100 a week, and that doesn't go very far.

HB (to HW)–Given that reality, what do you see yourself doing, are you going to continue to do this, or are you training additionally to do something else?

HW–Right now, I'm looking for another job. If I have to, I'll work two jobs, but I'd rather work two jobs and know that my son's going to be taken care of the way I want him to be taken care of, rather than, like I said, worrying from month to month how I'm going to get him food or clothes or stuff like that.

HB–The state's three-year lifetime limit is on her mind, and so is the not-so-distant memory of having been self-sufficient.

HW–I loved being on my own, I loved having anything that I wanted to get for my son, I could get it, and I was, like I said, off of welfare for almost-I was at my old job for a year-and-a-half, and the only thing I got for him was a medical card, and I'd love to be that way again, I'd love to be able to get things for my own, because we get $76 right now in food stamps, so between the food stamps and each week I'll go and I'll get food when I get my check, and I want to be able to go to the grocery store and know-don't have to worry about the little card, you just give them the cash and that's it. I'd love to be on my own and not have to worry about getting assistance from the county and I want to get a car, I don't have a license yet, but I'm going to get it. There's a lot of different stuff that I want in my life. I want a bigger house, I want to be able to have a house rather than an apartment, and I'm trying to work at that little by little as I go by, but you can't do much on what little I make.

HB–Heather remembers the day she went down to sign up for welfare in Cuyahoga County. She had no money or food, and R.J. was hungry.

HW–One of the women, in fact, took a couple of dollars, two or three dollars, and went and bought him a hot dog and a pop, which, to me, it was wonderful, it made me cry, but to think that there are still people out there that care what other people are like and what they do, it's wonderful.

HB–Heather says even though circumstances seem to be working against her at times, she is determined to make it. She says she wants all of her children to live with her again. She says she wants to get off welfare, and she has set an ambitious timetable.

HW–Before the new year hits, before the new millenium hits, I want to be off, I want to be on my own, I want love, I want caring.

HB–23-year-old Heather Westlake, mother of three, wants to teach her children to swim someday. She says she wants to take them camping, something she loved to do with her grandmother. Life's little pleasures, she wants to be able to afford her children. For INFOhio, I'm Harry Boomer in Cleveland.