➡️❤️For several years now I have been transforming my life, moving beyond generational poverty to a place where I can contribute generously to meaningful causes. While some are born into wealth, my journey involves overcoming challenges of homelessness, governmental assistance and the help and generosity of others in order to overcome. I am still working on it but I am building a foundation that allows me to give back both to my family and my community.

😭One time, while working on the forms for insurance, I asked the social worker if we could have the insurance where we could pay a little? It was called CHIP. She laughed and said “ma’am, with your income you should have Medicaid, food stamps and everything offered”. I politely responded that we were able to budget and provide food for our children and told her that we would like to at least pay some of the insurance funds. She told me it would not be an option, that I must use Medicaid and scoffed at me for refusing all services offered to us.

‼️I walked away from that conversation feeling somewhat defeated but I refused to give up. I called representatives and even wrote a letter to the President of the United States 😬🫣 to share my experience with them. I requested for them to allow people to choose instead of forcing the free option. Even though no one responded, I doubted they ever would, I wanted to at least share my story with them in hopes that it could help shed some light on the brokenness of our system.

🎊🎉The moment I no longer needed to rely on food stamps or medicaid is burned into my memory. It was humbling and I cried lots of tears. It was a goal of mine to one day be non-government dependent. I never wanted to stay there.

💰several years ago, I walked into an Edward Jones with my little $500 hoping to start an investment account with them. I remember him looking at me (almost with a laugh) and saying “come back when you have $25,000”. At that moment I felt pretty embarrassed. That $500 was like $25,000 to me. I was trying and that was all that mattered to me. I was talking to a friend who told me about another company who would work with my $500. The day we started investing our money with a company that allowed us to start small, was the beginning of a new dream for us.

✏️I have been learning and also unlearning and growing and the process hasn’t been smooth or easy but it has been well worth it. If you haven’t started saving, it’s okay to start with $1. Just start. I once met a Jewish man who told me that there is value even in the penny and we should care about the smallest in order to be trusted with more. If you need encouragement in this, you are not alone. I am still growing in this but I can always encourage.

I say all of this not to bring embarrassment to my family or anyone but to encourage everyone to feel proud of starting somewhere. Set a goal. To some, we don’t have much, to others we have an abundance. It’s all very subjective to circumstances. Just know I am cheering for you. I love you! Build generational wealth and wellness. It starts with you!

💕❤️ #humblebeginnings