The Johnson Family (WNYC/Cindy Rodriguez)

November 21, 2006 —Welfare reform was deemed successful at moving people off the welfare rolls but not necessarily at lifting them out of poverty. Many still struggle to get by even though they are working full time. Helping this group get better paying jobs is one way the city plans to reduce poverty. WNYC’s Cindy Rodriguez interviewed one Bronx family determined to make it to the middle class.

Reporter: Jamie and Lisa Johnson live in a two bedroom apartment in one of the poorest neighborhoods not just in the city but in the country. Within their zip code, 40 percent of people live below the poverty line – that’s an annual income of less than 20-thousand dollars for a family of four. The couple consider their landlord a slumlord and complain about drug dealing and unruly children who use the halls as their playground. But still - they take pride in where they live:

Jamie and Lisa: You like the color of the kitchen? When I first painted that kitchen my retinas just burned. Now I’m used to it though….

Reporter: The spacious kitchen is a bright mixture of orange and pink, almost like the color of an intense sunrise. The couple says the apartment only looks decent because of repairs they’ve made themselves:

Jamie: This is our bathroom. Again I did the floors in here also.

Reporter: They have three children – all girls, ages three, five and nine. All three are watching cartoons in a converted bedroom that was once the living room:

Jamie: Actually all three of them were staying in here and we had this little room as a den but since Tianna kinda needed her privacy because she’s going to a charter school and it’s very demanding and she needs peace and quiet when she does her homework so we gave her this room.

Reporter: Both parents say they speak out at the public schools their girls attend to make sure their children are getting a proper education which they see that as the key to opportunity:

Jamie: I want them to believe and to know that they can have and achieve anything they want. They can live better than what they’re living now. You now like for instance when you came into the building there were things that you saw but then like I told you before our world starts behind 3f. Whatever is out there is not going to reflect whatever is in here….It takes a lot of parent involvement to raise better children than what your environment is….

Reporter: Lisa Johnson also wants better for her daughters. The neat 24 year old with a round, baby face grew up on public assistance. She says her mother is mentally ill and needed it but Lisa is not sick or disabled and believes she can have a better life without it:

Lisa: I definitely don’t want my children to be a third generational recipient of government agencies so now I’m trying to get myself together so that won’t be a part of their adult life and teenage life.

Reporter: The young mother was 15 when she had her first child. She says getting pregnant at such a young age was terrifying and made her feel as if she had no future:

Lisa: I was married at 16 and I guess as you grow your goals change and you realize you’re in poverty but you have to start making steps towards getting out of poverty…

Reporter: Having a two parent family has created stability in the couple’s home. Lisa goes to school at night while Jamie takes care of the kids. Her classes run from 5:30 to 10:30. She’s trying to become a medical assistant and eventually a registered nurse. Both jobs are supposed to pay better than her current part time work. She’s a home health aid but she also works as a helper and counselor inside homes where child abuse or neglect is suspected. It’s a stressful and demanding job that requires an expertise in dealing with troubled families. The company she works for has a contract with the city. Despite that, her pay is very low:

Lisa: They were trying to get me 7.25 for these cases and I said I’m not willing to do it. I told them I’m not willing to work for less than 7.65 so any case I get if it’s one children, two children or three children…I told them I’m not doing these cases for less than 7.65.

Reporter: At this hourly rate Johnson brings home about 500 dollars a month. She gets paid each Friday and says her money is often gone by Monday. Her husband Jamie takes care of most of the bills. He makes 12 dollars an hour working as a porter at a building for low income tenants. Bagging tons of garbage and keeping the grounds clean are among his duties:

Jamie: I see the fruits of my labor at the end of the day. Now I’m starting to have tenants come and say wow you guys really do your job. Bagging tons of garbage and cleaning up the grounds are among his duties:

Reporter: Johnson is wearing a navy blue uniform shirt with his last name embroidered in white. He plans to add a Mr. to it. Respect is important and he smiles when saying his neighborhood nickname “big man”. He says he and his family have micro, mini and mega goals which include moving out of state in order to afford a house:

Jamie: If you want a really decent neighborhood and a good neighborhood where you have a real sense of community where the community has the same goals and everything, the house is going to cost 300-thousand and then your household is going to have to make 80-thousand and above a year …just to start…just to make ends meet and right now that’s a stretch for someone who right now with a house hold almost making 30-thousand a year…

Reporter: That kind of income does not allow for any extras. Jamie says the couple is only able to go out about 3 times a year the last time was four months ago – they went to red lobster and a movie. Regardless, they are optimistic about their future. This positive outlook is new though – not long age they were in a homeless shelter and on welfare. They also split up and have only been back together a few months- about as long as Jamie has been at his new job. This is also Lisa’s first semester in school:

Lisa: I’m happy doing something everyday. I see the progress and that’s wonderful. I see the change in my status in a way and I like it.

Reporter: If all goes well, the Johnson family will make it out of poverty. But this renewed family unit is untested and still delicate. They are moving forward with little to fall back on so any setbacks may derail their dreams.

For WNYC, I’m Cindy Rodriguez

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