A guaranteed income program is giving one Mississippi mother the stability to plan for her future, but her story reveals the deeper systemic barriers that make escaping poverty so difficult.
A groundbreaking Ms. series, Front & Center first began as first-person accounts of Black mothers living in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income from Springboard to Opportunities’ Magnolia Mother’s Trust (MMT). Moving into the fourth year and next phase of this series, the aim is to expand our focus beyond a single policy intervention to include a broader examination of systemic issues impacting Black women experiencing poverty. This means diving deeper into the interconnected challenges they face—including navigating the existing safety net; healthcare, childcare and elder care; and the importance of mental, physical and spiritual well-being.
My name is Javonica, and I’m 26 years old, born and raised in Jackson, Miss. I’m a mom of two amazing boys, ages eight and two, and I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of my baby girl next month. This little girl is going to be my last child, and I am so excited to finally have a daughter.
Life in Jackson has had its challenges. Right now, I’m not working, and trying to find a work-from-home job while pregnant has been tough. Before, I worked factory jobs and also had some work-from-home positions. I even went to technical college for medical assisting. I was able to get financial aid to pay for school, and I graduated. But then I wasn’t able to pass the certification test—I was only two points away, but I got discouraged about retaking it during COVID. It was hard to find a job in the field then. And that was rough, being so close to passing the test but not getting quite there. So much time has gone by now that it feels intimidating to try again, but I am studying to retake the test after I have my baby. I like helping people, and I want to get back in the medical field.
It’s not my only passion, though. I also love doing nails! I’ve been doing it on the side for fun. I have even looked into nail schools. But here in Jackson, the nail program at the local beauty school closed down. Maybe one day I’ll be able to pursue that professionally, too.
I lost my father last year, and it’s been tough without him. He was my best friend. I do still have my mom, and I have three sisters. I’m really close to my sister who lives in Iowa, she calls and checks on me and if I know if I need her I can just reach out even though she’s far away.
Not having a car or a strong support system nearby has made things difficult, especially with childcare. I did get a childcare voucher when I was working at the Amazon warehouse, but then I lost my car, and that made taking my son to daycare impossible. For now, he stays home with me. I’m planning on getting a car soon, and after my baby is born, I want to be able to work in person again.
Right now, working from home is easier and less stressful, since I’m worried about not having a car and taking an in-person job since without reliable transportation I’d be at risk of missing shifts and not being a reliable employee. It’s like one thing or the other—I could get a childcare voucher, but without a car, it doesn’t really help me find employment since Jackson doesn’t really have any reliable public transportation I could use.
I did have an offer for a work-from-home job and was just waiting on the background check to start, but they told me they were way backed up with reviewing those so I’ve just been waiting and waiting. So I’m still applying to other jobs in the meantime because I can’t just wait forever, and it’s been months.
I’ve had to call 20 or 30 times to get through for food stamps before when they messed up my application. The only option to bypass that is to go in person, but again, I don’t have transportation to do that.
When I’m between jobs, it’s always been a struggle to make ends meet. For a while, I was getting about $100 a week in child support. I would also babysit when I could. My sister would send me money if my kids needed anything, but it was still hard. I tried to apply for TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) and went to the orientation, but they make you do community service to get it or just take whatever job they give you if you don’t already have one. And I would’ve maybe done that, but the administrator made it really clear that you were not allowed to miss any shifts and that they don’t care if you don’t have reliable transportation so again, not having a car kept me from being able to access it. And that if I missed a shift, that would also put my food stamps at risk, and I really couldn’t afford to lose those. So I just withdrew my TANF application.
I wish the people in charge of these systems would improve how they work, mainly in having some level of kindness when it comes to the people you have to deal with. They make you feel a certain kind of way when you apply for these programs. Even when I was working, I felt looked down on and demeaned with the way they talked to me—when really I feel like you should care about people if you’re in that line of work. And then they lose your paperwork, and you have to call and wait forever. I’m not even exaggerating, I’ve had to call 20 or 30 times to get through for food stamps before when they messed up my application. The only option to bypass that is to go in person, but again, I don’t have transportation to do that.
That’s why being selected for the latest round of the Magnolia Mother’s Trust has made such a difference. I feel treated like a human, instead of looked down on. And not having to jump through all these hoops to get some help has been huge.
There are just small things I’m able to do now, like give my second-grader a few dollars to take part in school activities that he was left out of before because I just didn’t have the money to spare.
The very first thing I did when I received the initial payment was pay my light bill. The payment came the day before my son’s birthday on Jan. 16, so I was able to do a little something for him at home. Then, this past weekend, we went to Party Safari, and he had so much fun.
Before the Trust, those things were challenging, and I felt like I had to say no a lot more. Now, I know the income is coming in faithfully every month. And it’s going to help with long-term things too; like I’m planning to use some of it along with my tax refund to pay for a car by the time my daughter is born. It will also help me stay home with her for a little while—my plan right now is to take six weeks, then get an in-person job. And there are just small things I’m able to do now, like give my second-grader a few dollars to take part in school activities that he was left out of before because I just didn’t have the money to spare.
I’m grateful for the Trust for many reasons—definitely for the resources, but I’ve also felt a mental relief since it’s been really stressful to live on such little income as I wait for this job to come through. Getting to be in community with the other moms has really helped me get through it and realize I’m not in this alone.
