Nikisha

Nikisha lives with her husband and their three children in a small house owned by her in-laws. Before the program, she was unemployed, needing to stay home with her young children. Finances were strained, and they often paid bills late and went without. Though she feels like her situation would be worse without the money she tells us, “I was grateful to receive it, but I don't really feel like it made a major difference in my life because I still had to — I still paid bills late. I still struggled.”

At the end of the program, her husband is the sole source of income. Nikisha feels if she had a job her life might be different, but she lives in a rural area and the jobs closeby do not pay enough to offset the cost of childcare. Better paying jobs are “an hour and a half commute one way.” Though she’s happy to have received the money she says “it would probably have to be double to make, to make what we receive in income, plus the gift, be enough to carry us possibly month-to-month.”

For Nikisha, the money alone was not enough to overcome lack of childcare, low-paying job options, or her geographic barriers.