Deona Hunter's Story

How could this happen?

Three years before, in mid-1987, when I became pregnant neither my fiancé, Mark (now my husband), nor I had any type of health insurance. Because I believe that every baby deserves good prenatal care, I only had a few qualms about going to apply for medical assistance from DSHS. Although I could have qualified - and was encouraged to apply - for other types of assistance, I declined because I couldn't `justify' it to myself. Like most people in our culture, I grew up believing the stereotype that people on public assistance are lazy, or inferior, or that `they' are somehow to blame for their circumstances. Immediately following the birth of my son, I went off assistance. That was April of 1988.

For the next few years our small family struggled to survive month-to-month. Both my husband and I worked at a succession of dead-end, low paying, no-benefits jobs. We both developed good skills for living on a budget. I received assistance from the WIC program. Instead of a pediatrician, I took our son to the public health facility for well-child check-ups. Basically, we got by. Then in the early spring of 1990, after our financial situation had stabilized for a while (and we had been able to purchase medical insurance through my husband's employer) we decided to try and have a second child. By July I was pregnant, unfortunately that same month my husband lost his job due to persistent back problems from a previous injury. Briefly we considered keeping our insurance coverage, but it would have cost us almost $300 a month! We hadn't progressed so far that we could afford that on my two, part-time jobs waiting tables.

To make a long story short -- once again we struggled with the decision of whether to go back on public assistance (as if it were a choice). Inevitably, we did, but we resolved to make "the system" work for us. After a great deal of soul searching we decided that I, rather than Mark, should return to school so that we could eventually support our family. Our two main reasons were; because I had gotten farther in my education than Mark, and because it better suited our personalities. In order to avoid the high cost of daycare (and ensure our qualification for financial aid toward my education), Mark agreed to stay at home to raise our 9-month-old daughter, Alaina, and 3-year-old son, Trevor.

Fighting my way back.

I knew that the first thing I had to do when I went back to school was to decide what to study - my JOBS Specialist advised me to take the careers course at Edmonds Community College. So that's the first thing I did. Not only did it help me learn a lot about myself - my strengths, weakness' and aptitudes - it specifically helped me pinpoint the field of marketing, though not the exact profession. That was work I did on my own. I spent lots of additional time looking through books and folders in the Career Center at the college. Meanwhile, I started taking courses that would apply to a transfer degree, an Associates of Art, so that I could go on to earn a 4-year Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) eventually. My math skills were not even at the high-school level, and like so many women, I thought I just couldn't learn it. At the time, convincing myself that I could learn math and even work all the way up through intermediate algebra (the minimum requirement) was the most challenging hurdle I had to overcome.

As I progressed through my 2-year degree at Edmonds, occasionally I would try to take a class like, "Time Management", or "Leadership". These classes taught me to develop life skills that continue to help me succeed, such as, setting short and long-term goals, good organizational habits, and professional assertiveness. These same skills also helped me wade through the morass of details involved in applying for and maintaining financial aid for school, AFDC, JOBS, Energy Assistance and other types of assistance (as well as the changes that frequently occur in these programs).

After a lot of consideration, I decided to study Communications - with an emphasis in advertising - a liberal arts degree with practical applications. However, I had to prove to JOBS that my degree would actually help get our family off public assistance for good, and normally they don't approve any liberal arts degrees. I went to the meeting armed with data and information about the effectiveness of this particular degree and the outlook of the advertising business in general. Finally, after resisting repeated attempts to change my decision, I won the right to study what I wanted. I completed my A.A. degree in December 1993 and felt nervous, but excited to be transferring to the University of Washington to finish my studies.

Living today and looking forward to the future.

As I quickly discovered at the UW, the classes are bigger, the teachers are more exacting, and the competition is fierce. I have fought tooth and nail to maintain my above-average grade point for nearly two years. It has been a struggle for all of us to stay focused on the goals ahead. And just like in any family, there have been ups and downs. But when the going gets tough, I know my family is there to support me. Mark works hard to keep our home life organized and volunteers at our kids schools (which helps relieve some of my guilt about not being able to `be there' for my children). The kids have tip-toed through final exam weeks and forgiven my periodic lack-of-attention. And though it is difficult for them sometimes - particularly Trevor, now in second grade, who has been teased for getting free lunches at school - generally the kids are very understanding of our difficult financial situation.

We have made "the system" work for us. It has not been easy - in fact, it's been damn hard - but thankfully we've had each other through it all. We also feel privileged to have the love and support of nearby relatives. And we have all the invaluable lessons this experience has taught us.

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