Fighting for a life worth living
In and out of jobs and dealing with addiction, Angel decided it was time to take her life into her own hands and create a better future for herself by starting over. She moved to a different town with her dad so they could escape their harmful lifestyle. Things were looking up until her dad broke his back and accidentally overdosed on pain meds. Angel came home and found her father, her only support system, had died.
That was the moment she knew she was going to do whatever it took to escape her previous life and make her dad proud.
“I want him to look down and see what I’ve accomplished in my life, and see that he raised a wonderful little girl and it’s okay,” she said, holding back tears. “I want him to know that it’s okay to go to heaven and that he doesn’t have to stay and watch me. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
At the time of his passing, she was two years clean, but still struggling to make ends meet.
It was hard for her to ask for help, but she felt it was her responsibility to make sure she maintained her dad’s apartment to keep the memories of him safe. She couldn’t bear the thought of losing everything. She turned to a United Way supported agency to help her get back in school and her basic needs met.
She was later connected with EPIC, which helps low-income participants receive job skill training and work-based learning opportunities in high-demand fields. EPIC eventually led her to Southwestern Illinois College.
Prior to United Way’s help, Angel battled with depression most of her life, leaving her with inconsistent employment history and no positive vision for her future. When the EPIC program came into her life, everything changed.
“It’s a big relief. That’s for sure. It’s a feeling of accomplishment. At the same time, when you come from that, it feels like an accomplishment,” she says. “It felt like an accomplishment just to be able to buy my own soap and shampoo.”
Angel’s past is what motivates her to keep fighting for her future. She doesn’t want to live her former life ever again. She wants a reliable car, a stable life and to simply wake up every day, go to work and come home to her dog, Diamond, without having to worry about how she’s going to pay her bills.
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes for it,” she said.
A few years from now, Angel plans to have finished her associate degree and to be working as a programmer or in an apprenticeship program. One day, she hopes to own some property and build her own home.
“I’ve come from a long line of people helping me,” she says. “Somebody seeing in me that I have the strength and that I want better, and they gave me that opportunity and chance. That’s all it really takes is that one chance for somebody to just help you up. It really takes other people. You can’t do it by yourself. It’s just not possible.”