Tell me a little bit about yourself and what it’s like being a parent.
I am a single mom who is a native Washingtonian, a small business owner, community advocate, and student by nature. I’m a visionary whose list of goals seems endless. I feel so inadequate sometimes as a parent, because I do a lot to make a way for my child but always seem to be struggling. While it seems like that sometimes, I also have so many great things going on in my life and I am extremely grateful for that. I guess because when you work so hard towards improving your life, when it doesn’t happen as quickly as you plan or when obstacles continue to present themselves, that end goal continues to move. I’m doing everything that I can. Being a single parent with little support can absolutely be draining at times.
I am going to school for stationary steam engineering and I’ve already graduated; I go to classes two days a week to prepare for the licensing exam. I also attend a grief and trauma support group to recognize and cope with the grief and trauma that I have experienced and to learn techniques and skills that can help me to manage them on a daily basis.
Being an advocate for myself and be a voice for my community causes me to be pulled in so many different directions because I’m trying to do so much for myself while acquiring information and resources that can be useful not only to myself but also to members of the community who share similar experiences and circumstances.
I’m also very independent, very self-sufficient, and resilient. Places such as Community Family Life Services, LIFT-DC, and my school communities pour into me and I thank God for them. They don’t know how much they help me because they give me a safe space when life is handing me lemons and provide the resources and platforms for me to improve my circumstances and platforms to advocate for myself but also for others in my community.
I have extensive skills, talents, education and experience, but life can sometimes be a beautiful mess. I am a prime example of the working poor, but it is all about perspective and because I maintain a positive outlook on life, I persevere. I’m educated, but I also think about people who have limitations, who do not have access to resources and those who do not have access to them, and I feel for those people too. That’s why I speak on their behalf and do my best to share information.
What does advocacy mean to you and how do you practice it in your daily life?
It involves giving people information and resources about things that can help them. I try to help people navigate through various systems and advise them to question things and conduct their own research. I try to help people articulate how they are feeling and impacted by things that happen to them to be able to share their experiences with those who have the ability to impact processes. People are like ‘how do you know about some of these things?’ It’s because I read, I pick up flyers, I’m in the community and I advocate for people and use my voice for them. I am involved in community campaigns and initiatives that are designed to instigate change and mobilize others. I also provide oral and written testimonies to the DC Council to be a part of the legislative process. I always try to be productive in these community efforts. I have to accomplish something throughout the day, and if I do not do that then I’m not good to myself or good to anybody that I can help.
Tell me a little bit about your time testifying at the DC Council.
Most recently, I have testified before the Committee on Youth Affairs about the benefits of home visitation and I have testified before the Council for fair budget hearings and have worked with local nonprofit leaders to create a council of nonprofits. We have pounded the pavement and toured the Council to ensure that the money comes through the United Way to small nonprofits to make sure that the organizations that are directly serving the community receive the funding to assist them in fulfilling the missions of their organizations.
Any way that I can, I am trying to make sure that people understand that there are people working tirelessly in the community and trying to help them get funding for various programs and initiatives.
Does being a parent drive you to do that advocacy work?
Heck yeah, because who else is doing this? I’m a single mother. I have to make sure I pour into my son as much as possible. I am responsible for ensuring that he grows to be a productive member of society, and as much as I can, I have to do my part to ensure that the society and community that he emerges from is healthy and provides him with a fair chance to be the productive member that I am rearing him to be. I put him in a school and activities where he can grow to be the best version of himself that he can be. The support I receive through LIFT-DC, Community Family Life Services, and the Georgetown Prisons and Justice Initiative program assist me with that. I also work diligently to identify what resources are available to me and my family and continue to seek out resources that can help me, my family, and my community thrive.
Is it empowering to be able to share your voice and to be able to speak for others who cannot speak?
It’s definitely empowering. It’s also scary, too. I learned this in my training and social work, just because you are poor does not mean you’re neglectful and some people associate that with the same thing. Sharing your voice provides you with a lot of responsibility and there can be a lot of pressure on you when things are not totally in your control. Those that you are advocating for do not always know the entire process involved with making change and they are not always aware of the strength that is in numbers. Sharing your voice can make you the fall guy when things are not going as planned in the process of change.
I have the skills, but what about the people that don’t? I always think about all those people that do not have the resources and the education that I have. Many people don’t know where to start to effect change unless it is told to them.
How as a society can we ensure that those people that can’t speak up or don’t speak up are heard and are part of the process?
Just continue to provide community services. Make sure community-based organizations, that the funding exists. Just resources. So, continue to create that community by any means necessary. It’s also important to make them a part of the process as much as possible. Explaining the process to them, how legislation can affect them directly and being able to utilize technology and materials that they can use and understand to acquire a bigger following in your mission.
Are there any small steps or actions that you think that we can take to make a difference?
Gift cards to help with certain things that food stamps don’t cover. Tutoring. Transportation assistance to testify before the Council and to and from working sessions can also be helpful. If I can get a tutor or aftercare at my son’s school, then that would be great, while working on advocacy activities. Working sessions to teach people about the legislation that affect them and bringing them into the process can help. Focus groups, surveys, roundtable discussions are all helpful. Also providing people with scripts for oral and written testimonies and assisting them with their testimonies can be very helpful.
What keeps you motivated to keep pushing for change, even when it feels difficult?
I pray and I also have to look at my son. Also knowing that change has to occur on all levels and sometimes the things that can appear to be so insignificant can be the biggest game changers. Because you never know what component of the process can gain the most traction, you have to be a part of each step of the process. Places like LIFT-DC provide a community type of space to be a part of advocacy process, which does not make it appear so daunting and scary. I know that we have to be able to take care of ourselves. But it’s that level of support throughout this process. That makes it real that you are contributing to change.
In an ideal world, what would the social system services look like?
In an ideal world, the social service system would be a supportive, safe space to grow. It would not feel punitive, but congratulatory. Vocational education and trainings and being taught how to monetize them once they are received. There would be no restrictions on your potential for growth while receiving services. Teaching children about financial management and budgeting. I wish that was something that I was trained on. That’s why I’m trying to make sure that I implement it into my son and make sure he knows that ‘okay, I’m going to give you $20, you need to save 15 of those dollars.’
Knowing about tax codes, taxes, and being able to be a business owner – entrepreneurship.
Give these children and families a voice. The best way to be a support to them is to hear it from them. Go into their homes, talk to them, give them a safe space to come and be able to connect with them.
There’s so many things that we can do on a small scale.
Goal setting -what do you want to accomplish for your child and for yourself within the next six months? Instilling self-esteem and self-care. Also, tapping into those parents and teaching them how to talk to their children, how to process things with children.