Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 24, 1993                   TAG: 9311240147
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THINGS CAN BE TOUGH, EVEN FOR THOSE WITH A JOB

But when asked whether she would choose to work or to go back to waiting for a monthly check, she didn't have to think very hard.

"I prefer to work. You have your independence when you're working," she said. When a person receives public assistance, she said, it seems like everyone has the right to ask all kinds of personal questions.

"The things you have to go through are terrible," she said. "No one is sympathetic."

Molly is 40 now, and when her three children were young, she received Aid for Dependent Children. When they grew older, she entered a job-training program and now works full-time in an adult-care facility. She bathes, entertains and supervises elderly people. It's work she really enjoys.

But the job doesn't pay much. There are no medical benefits, paid sick leave or vacation days.

When Molly had to have surgery in October, her job was held open for her. But with no income, she got behind on the rent and utility payments at the public housing development she lives in. She also accumulated big medical bills.

She went back on welfare for a month, but couldn't find help in paying the rent.

So Molly went to Roanoke Area Ministries in October. She was given $72 from donations to the Good Neighbors Fund, which she applied toward her housing bill.

Life was not easy for Molly even before her illness, she said. Although one child is grown and gone, there still are two high-schoolers at home. Only one child ever received support payments from his father, and those ended recently when he turned 18.

Every spare penny goes toward feeding and clothing the children. Molly doesn't have a car and often must take a taxi to work when the buses don't run. The only thing she ever buys for herself, she said, is underclothes.

Because her income is relatively high, the family gets $50 to $70 in food stamps each month, "not enough for three people."

That amount was supposed to go up while she was sick, but it hasn't happened, she said.

Molly returned to work this month, hoping to make some money before Christmas. Because there are still so many bills to pay, however, she doesn't think she'll be able to buy presents for her children this year.

Checks should be made payable to Good Neighbors Fund and mailed to Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 1951, Roanoke 24008.

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