My life is currently on hold. I have a misdemeanor theft by taking charge in my record from about 5 years ago after a co-worker stole some money and they thought I took some too. It’s the only thing I have in Georgia besides a few traffic offenses.
I’m 43 years old and have 7 children. The most important things for me in life are my kids. My youngest daughter is thirteen years old. I want to make her a strong woman. You have to lead by example. I want to be able to support my family. I don’t want fancy house, fancy car, and a lot of money. I just want to show my kids how they can live an honest, decent life. I’ve done so much since that one mistake, but I keep getting turned down. Yet, I keep trying for my kids.
My 22 year old son got shot accidentally, and he almost died. I left my job for 2 months to go take care of him. I was working at a place that knew me for a long time; they saw past my record and knew that I am a dedicated employee. Since I had to leave, I started looking for jobs again. Ever since that, I can’t find a job that pays enough and meets my experience. Everywhere that I apply to and interview hires me; I’ve been working, I’m experienced, and I work well with people. But then the background check comes back and I’m let go. This past August, someone gave me a chance. It was a $17.50/hour job—the manager liked me and saw my experience. She disregarded my background, knowing that it didn’t represent me. I was so happy, and got to work for about 3 days. Then, HR came. The manager that hired me got transferred to a different division, and the new person ran background checks so I was fired. I fell in a huge depression.
But I have kids and I can’t give up. I worked at a gas station for a while, and then I got my current part-time job that is decent-paying. I got my GED this past year. If I can get this conviction out of my background, the whole world will open up to me. I want to go to DeKalb Medical; they have a program starting every September in radiology. But I don’t want to waste my time if a hospital will not hire me after I graduate. I want this off my record so that I can work at a hospital, raise my kids by example, and help others.
