Every morning is an instant coffee morning for Tiffany West.
"Because we live an instant life," she says, mixing warm water into a measuring cup filled with the instant fuel she'll need to make it through the first few hours of the day.
On busy days like this in her house of sleepy eyes and the princess pajamas her daughters wear, even mini meals are microwaved.
Tiny toes and tiny heads are dressed in a dash, and homework is reviewed by moonlight.
A strong backbone helps get 5-year-old Emani and 3-year-old Jordyn off to school every morning. The rest of the day requires more than physical strength for West.
"I just wake up in the morning, say a prayer, and ask God to give us strength to get through the day," said West.
It's a short drive to West's next stop, a place where we learn this life on the brink of a breakthrough once lacked a car, a home, and hope was lost. Life was instant, but not that warm, comfortable kind West finished up this morning.
It's Midlands Technical College, and it's time for speech class. Today's assignment has West telling her personal story of pain and poverty.
"Most people wonder why a woman would stay. 'Why does she stay? Who wants to get hit all the time or live in fear?'" asks West to a crowd of her classmates.
It was four years of abuse at the hands of her boyfriend. No nearby family, no knowledge of resources.
"It was abuse on all levels," West said. "Physical, sexual, emotional, verbal."
West was trapped until courage kicked in.
"We left," she said.
West finishes her speech and her classmates applaud her, but just like applause, freedom fades. Instead of the fists of her boyfriend, poverty gripped West.
With no degree, a minimum wage job meant West worked all day away from her children to pay the babysitter with little money left.
"And it got to the point where it wasn't making any sense," said West.
Bills piled up and West was on the streets with two little girls. A motel became their home. For two years, welfare was a way of life. Until, in an instant, something clicked.
"I just decided it was time, and I had to stop making excuses and do whatever it took for me to get a degree," said West.
West took a cab to campus, applied for student loans to cover childcare, and entered the paralegal program.
Now months away from graduation, a new, provocative program launched by the Cooperative Ministry will help ensure moms like West land on their feet, planted on solid ground.
"To me, it was an answer to prayers," said West.
The "Solid Ground" plan requires parents like West to pick a career that's in high demand, maintain good grades, and give back through community service.
The plan helps fill the gaps with cars, gas money, education, and the biggest budget item, childcare -- like Jordyn's tuition at her school -- all aimed at helping parents get a degree, start a career, and stop the cycle of poverty from reaching into the next generation.
Copyright 2012 WIS. All rights reserved.
