Statement of Dorothy Taylor, Employee, Generation 2 Plastics, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Human Resources
of the House Committee on Ways and Means

Hearing on Welfare Reform and Work

April 3, 2001

Good afternoon Chairman Herger and members of the Subcommittee on Human Resources. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Dorothy Taylor. I'm 40 years old and I have three children and two grandchildren. I work at Generation 2 Plastics in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I drive a forklift and operate plastics machinery. I'm here today because of the W-2 program. I spent 10 years of my life on welfare, taking odd jobs here and there, until W-2 came around.

I didn't think much of W-2 a couple of years ago, until my last unemployment check ran out. I thought to myself, "I've got to feed these kids." I went through the whole program at the YWCA, including the pre-Academy, the Academy of Excellence, Creative Workshop, and Generation 2 Plastics. I worked hard and was offered a full-time job at Generation 2 Plastics. I took the job. Now I have benefits, medical insurance and a pension.

It's important for me to have this chance and to have people behind me. I'm going to show everyone that I'm not going to fail.

If I hadn't joined W-2, I'd probably be homeless, walking the street and running to the churches to get something to eat. I see a lot of that. Some people just don't want to try anymore.

Some people blame their situation on W-2, but it's not W-2 that's the problem. It's them. I tell them you can't get something for nothing. I tell them to get up and get what W-2 has to offer. And it does have a lot to offer.

There's training and help to get your GED. You need an education. I tell my children that you need a GED just to sweep the sidewalk at some job. I'm working on my GED now. I'm almost ready to start taking my tests. I want to wait just a little while because the one thing I hate is failing on the first try. But if I can get my GED, I can keep my kids on track so they don't wind up like the old me. Maybe some day I'll take some college courses. If I wind up doing that, I'll know I've done the best with my life.

My 14-year-old son is proud of me. I was interviewed by the LA Times and some other newspapers. They took my picture. My son has my picture up on his wall. You don't know how much this means to me, that my 14-year-old son is proud of me.

I tell my children that it's not necessarily what you learn in school that helps. It's how you use what you learn in every day life that means something.

W-2 isn't like AFDC. You can't just sit at home and keep having babies. W-2 stopped that and that's the best thing. It used to be that kids as young as 12-years-old were pregnant. That was alarming, and those girls weren't going to school. If I had the resources, I would have helped those girls. W-2 got these people back to work and got their children well cared for.

Keep the program going. If the program helped me, it can help a whole lot of other people. If the program stops, it will hurt all the little people. It will hurt our children. If the programs don't keep going, a whole lot of people are going to suffer. Thank you.