Nakia Bolton, Patricia O’Riley and Linda Lyda turn stereotypes upside down every day.
The three women were among the welfare-to-work success stories showcased by U.S. Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) and Illinois Department of Human Services Secretary Howard Peters III at a press conference Monday in Joliet.
Bolton, a mother of two who struggled to find a better job to support her family even after a car accident left her without transportation, has found a full-time job as a developmental technician, helping the disabled acquire life skills.
“I have to be (a hard worker),” said Bolton, who lives in Joliet. “I’m a single parent, and I have to make it as best as possible, so my kids will have the same ambition I have.”
Lyda, a mother of four from Bolingbrook, earned $6.50 an hour part-time at her first job, but is now supporting her family on a full-time job that pays $13 an hour.
Lyda has some advice for those struggling to get off of welfare.
“I would tell them it’s hard, but never give up. It’s worth it,” she said.
O’Riley who lives in Bolingbrook and has a teenage son, works two jobs at two day-care centers and just got a boost toward her goal of becoming a preschool teacher.
“It’s the most exciting thing that happened,” said O’Riley of a letter from Joliet Junior College informing her that she is eligible for grants for tuition, books and transportation.
Weller, co-author of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit that benefits businesses that hire welfare recipients, said the effort to move people off the welfare rolls and into the working world is succeeding nationally and locally.
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Welfare cases are down 40 percent nationwide and 46 percent in Will County, according to Weller, who said those statistics show “the best ticket off of welfare is a good job.”
Peters said 88,000 people have left Illinois’ welfare system since 1997, and their lives are better for the change.
“I’ve never met a family for whom I thought welfare was good enough,” Peters said.
The shrinking welfare rolls are the best argument for keeping the Work Opportunity Tax Credit on the books, said Weller, who is optimistic the tax break, which expires Sept. 30, can be made permanent or at least extended.
“We are showing that people every day, if given an opportunity, will want to go to work,” said B.J. Walker, director of community operations for IHDS.