Carol Bradshaw’s story as told to Carrie Bradshaw
It took me a long time to decide what story I wanted to share. Nothing felt right. But then I realized the exact thing I wanted to talk about—I wanted to share how lucky I’ve been with my resources. I wanted to be able to thank all of the people who helped me when I needed it most.
The first time that stands out that someone helped me was when I was pregnant. My now-ex (Cain) and I were living in a trailer, and one day in the mail there was a little book of coupons and some money. I remember it saying “Give God the glory.” I’m not a religious person, but I was still grateful.
I used the money and coupons to make Cain dinner. I made chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, and rolls. It was elaborate for the time because it was expensive. I remember my grandmother came over to help me debone the chicken. While I now regret using the money to cook Cain dinner, I am very grateful to whichever stranger left it in my mailbox that day.
For the longest time, we were a family of four living off one income. We had countless medical bills to pay, and we simply did not have the money. Leaving my ex was the best decision I ever made financially (and otherwise), but we still didn’t have much. Though we didn’t have much, my kids and I got to experience so many fun and exciting things due to the resources I had at hand. My job at the time took us to Indians’ baseball games. My friend took us to the VIP box at the Anderson Speedway. My parents took us to the Indianapolis Children’s Museum. My kids knew we didn’t have a lot of money, but they still got to experience these wonderful things.
Many of my friends at work often gave me money to take the kids to go do things and help provide for them. If there was a field trip coming up, or my son needed new cleats for baseball, or my daughter needed her first bra—they helped.
I remember my daughter was invited to go to New York because she had won a writing competition. We didn’t really have the money to go, but she had worked so hard. I wanted her to have that experience. My boss at the time called me into his office. I thought I was in trouble for something, but he said he had heard about our trip. He handed me cash right there to help make it happen.
When I wanted to leave my job, I was scared. I made good money, and at the time, I did not have another position lined up. I knew that if I left, there was a good chance we’d lose the house. My daughter was off at college at this point, but I still had my son living with me, and I wanted my daughter to have a place to come home to on breaks. I finally was no longer afraid when I realized we had a backup plan. I had a friend who owned a large farmhouse, and she said that if anything happened, we could live with them. I knew she meant it, so I was finally ready to leave.
While I was still at my old job, I entered a writing contest. You wrote about if you had a certain amount of money, what would you do with it? I wrote about how much I’d love to teach financial literacy and life skills to those in poverty. (Of course, I didn’t use that terminology then because I didn’t know it.) The prompt also asked to write about your experience with poverty. I wrote about my ex-husband and his drug addiction. I wrote about the time my van was repossessed because we couldn’t afford payments. I wrote about all of these difficult things I’d been through, but how I’d use them to make the world a little better. I won! I used the money to buy a brand-new refrigerator.
That writing was so important to me because I actually got in trouble at work for writing about my past. I got in trouble for sharing my own story! I don’t remember the exact reason why I got in trouble; maybe they never told me. But I just remember them saying it was inappropriate. As much as it sucked at the time, I now get to use that same story to help others.
I actually first got involved with Second Harvest through Forward STEPS. My former classmate from high school worked there, and she asked me to come in and help teach a class. We taught everyone about canning. We made and canned salsa that night, and it was so much fun.
When I came in for my interview for my current job at Second Harvest, I knew several of the people there. It felt like meeting with friends, and that’s how I knew it was the perfect fit. When my now-boss called to tell me when I’d start (she didn’t bother asking if I wanted the position), I was thrilled. I came in for my first day, and the then CEO and President came to see me, and he asked, “Where’s your cape?” I asked what he meant, and he explained that from everything he’d heard, I must be Superwoman.
I love my job at Second Harvest because now I get to be Superwoman for others. I get to help them find and take advantage of all of these great resources that are out there to help people like us. I get to meet with people of the community who are going through exactly what I went through, and I get to help them. I get to pay it forward. I get to be their hope.
This story originally appeared in Facing Resource Insecurity, a publication of The Facing Project that was organized by Second Harvest Food Bank of East-Central Indiana.
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