Darcy Grasps Self-Sufficiency

Maybe it's not the typical move the tassel, hats off graduation, but this ceremony still signifies hard work, accomplishment and the next step in becoming self-sufficient.  The people who attended the Getting Ahead program's graduation held proud faces as one of the graduates, Darcy Martin, stood up in front of the crowd and shared her story.  She told of growing up in a poor family on a Kentucky farm, moving to Middletown to work in quality control, and finally having to choose between having a career and taking care of a child with medical complications.  Some of the hardships would have been easier if child support payments came in more regularly.  Falling into the relentless grasp of poverty was simply a series of misfortunate events.

To help herself and her family get out from underneath accumulated debt, Darcy sold her house and strived to make things work on a low budget.  She found out about the Bridges Out of Poverty Coalition's Getting Ahead program through her Community Behavioral Health case manager when she expressed an interested in going back to school to finish her degree.  On learning about the program she says:

"I was all for it!  Anything that could help me was worth my time, and luckily I was able to make it work [on the] days my children were out of school due to my mom just becoming retired".

She was able to lean on her mother and a guild of therapists as she and her youngest son learned "sign language, learned to walk and many [other] independent steps that people take for granted".  Her son still faces challenges with speech and fine motor skills. 

Before she started the Getting Ahead program, Darcy felt as if she had few allies.  She had her mother, but there were still few that she believed she could actively rely on for help or friendship.  The Getting Ahead program helped her gain a focus, put her life into perspective, and define her goals.  "I found that I had lost myself somewhat in the procession of job sacrifice and living in poverty" she says about the program and how it helped her find the resources she needed to help herself move towards self-sufficiency.  "Considering what I've been through in only the last three years I am fairly resilient" she says.

Darcy just finished her associates degree in health care administration, her diploma arrived on the 1st of September.  She is very proud of herself for facing her challenges and working to defeat them.  Since the arrival of her diploma and graduating from Getting Ahead, Darcy has started to work towards her Bachelors degree. 

"Conducting root-cause analysis on any issue typically reveals a series of multiple issues that led to a problem. In other words, there is no single cause in most cases. In my case financial strains of health care costs of a disabled child, single parenthood of three children, and emotional deterioration from pushing myself beyond my limits were three major factors that lead me into poverty. Lack of child support was the largest financial burden that could have prevented much if it was received regularly."

On a final uplifting note, Darcy recently accepted a job offer working in health administration.  Congratulatons, Darcy, you are on your way to becoming Self-Sufficient.