TEXT ON SCREEN:
TIANNA GAINES-TURNER KNOWS WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE SHAMED FOR BEING POOR.

TIANNA GAINES-TURNER: People like to think of people in poverty as they don’t want to do nothing but just buy soda pop and sit around and have kids, or people on food stamps and on cash assistance are lazy.

I’ve been on and off cash assistance quite a few times. On and off, on and off, on and off.

The stigma, it’s like it’s almost a headband written across your forehead. Don’t look down at me. Don’t shame me. Try to understand me. Try to understand what it’s like.

I know what it’s like to have went to bed without eating to make sure my kids eat. I know what it’s like to have to call around and almost beg people for help. Being homeless twice it’s difficult, it’s hard.

TEXT ON SCREEN:
TODAY, TIANNA AND HER HUSBAND MARCUS SR. ARE OFF CASH ASSISTANCE. BUT EMPLOYMENT FOR BOTH REMAINS UNSTABLE AND THEY CONTINUE TO RELY ON FOOD STAMPS.

TIANNA GAINES-TURNER: I am optimistic. I want to be one of those success stories. I want to be able to lift myself out. No one wants to sit back on welfare for the rest of their lives.

My hopes for my family is to get my kids into a new school. I want my kids to have books to bring home, not Xerox copies. I want them to be able to thrive. I want them to be lawyers, doctors, engineers, the vice president, the president, the CEO of their own company.

I’m not just speaking out for me and my kids. I’m speaking out for the young lady who is 16 years old and a single mom and trying to go to school. And I’m speaking for the grandma who’s raising her grandkids. I’m not just telling my story. I’m telling 40 million people’s story.

(END)