Maine Perspective Front Page
A Champion of Reform
Five years ago, Michelle Alexander was a single mom determined to seek a better life for herself and her newborn daughter.
The road to that new life involved living on $500 a month, struggling to find childcare and hitchhiking for several months to take undergraduate classes.
"I had a complete and total dedication to getting off welfare through earning an education that would provide me with the ability to obtain employment at a wage that would support myself and my family," says Alexander. "That was the big impetus for me."
In 1995, Alexander transferred to the University of Maine. The bachelor's degree in social work she received last year was her off-ramp from the welfare rolls. And it was a green light to pursue her life's work.
This May, after completing her master's degree in social work in one year, Alexander is headed to graduate school and a career devoted to championing the needs of those who lack a voice in society.
"I think I've been drawn to social work all my life," Alexander says. "Primarily because of my experiences with welfare as a child when my parents got divorced and seeing my mother struggle to become self-sufficient after being a housewife for 11 years."
Alexander always planned on attending college, but did not believe she would qualify for any financial aid. Instead, she shared an apartment with a friend and worked full-time for several years.
When she became pregnant with Rowan, Alexander's boyfriend encouraged her to keep the baby and said he would support her. Five years later, Alexander has yet to see a penny of child support from Rowan's father, who has seen Rowan only twice since she was born.
"When her father left, I knew it was up to me to overcome my situation and try to make life better for both of us," she says.
After Rowan was born, Alexander's stepmother was only able to provide childcare for the first year while Alexander worked and went to school. For more than a year, she had been on a waiting list with Additional Support for Retraining and Employment (ASPIRE), a state program that offers support for low-income people. Without that assistance, she and other women she knew who were in the same situation were unable to pay for childcare.
"Every dime of my money went to rent and bills. There was nothing left over. If you hear that (low-income) people are getting all kinds of subsidies, they're not. Very few people actually receive a housing subsidy, which is what they need to survive. I didn't have that," she says.
Another woman provided free childcare for six months while Alexander worked the 3-11 shift after her classes.
Just when it looked like she would have to drop out of college to care for her daughter, ASPIRE came through and helped Alexander with the childcare she needed to continue on the path of self-sufficiency.
The stigma of receiving welfare has been a constant source of mental anguish for Alexander. She was grateful to have public assistance. But going to the grocery store and using food stamps was the most difficult aspect.
"That was the worst part of all of it. For me it was a degrading and shaming experience," she says. "I could feel my face turn red and would wish I could disappear right there at the register. I was terrified of what people in line behind me were thinking."
Alexander tried to plan her trips to the store around who was working. She looked for cashiers who had been polite in the past.
"I prepared myself for the possibility of negative comments from cashiers or customers. If anyone said anything, I planned to tell them everything I was doing to get off welfare. I would also tell them not to believe the myths about welfare recipients."
After receiving her bachelor's degree, Alexander was happiest about getting off welfare. She now helps other low-income people deal with the many emotions that accompany state assistance.
"There's a lot of hatred toward the welfare program and the people," she says. "There is this image of people who are lazy and trying to have more kids to get more assistance."
Support from the faculty in the School of Social Work helped Alexander reach her goals, she says.
"It's a small program. Everyone really knows each other well, and the faculty is highly committed to your education. You can get all the support you need."
At 28, Alexander is one of the youngest students in the social work master's degree program, according to Nancy Kelly, field coordinator in the school.
"Her commitment to working with people who are economically disadvantaged allows her to stand out as a real champion for the ideals of our department," Kelly says. "She is also a really lovely person."
Besides being a full-time student, Alexander is also a student intern at the Department of Mental Health.
She is a graduate research assistant for the Maine Housing Alternatives Project, and she serves on the Parents as Scholars subcommittee of the TANF advisory council, which works on making recommendations to the Department of Human Services regarding income maintenance and support service programs.
She is the Webmaster for the Maine Equal Justice Project/ Partners, a non-profit organization that provides advocacy and legal services to low-income people.
Alexander is also a member of the Maine Association of Interdependent Neighborhoods (MAIN), a low-income advocacy and lobbying group with 1,000 members statewide. Most importantly, says Alexander, she is the mother of a "delightful and very independent" 5-year-old girl.
"I've watched (Alexander) struggle through her own challenges, but she hasn't only tried to make things better for her own life, she's tried to make things better for other people. That's what impresses me so much; she's truly caring," MAIN president Judy Guay says.
Alexander plans to pursue a doctorate degree at Brandeis University in about two years. And she will continue to push for welfare and healthcare reform.
On graduation day, Alexander expects to feel "elated, ecstatic, triumphant and relieved."
"I will get to be middle class for the first time in my life - and before I'm 30."