"I hated being on AFDC. It was nasty, and I never want to go back."

Michelle Bitter

Michelle and Patrick Bitter live in a rural trailer park near Marshall, Wisconsin, with their daughter and step kids. Michelle has been in and out of the W-2 program the last two years and was in Mikki Patterson's class at the Career Expectations Center in Madison.

It was Michelle's contact with W-2 and Mikki Patterson that helped her begin a new life.

Patrick Bitter:
She was in W-2 for a while. And then, the alcoholism really started becoming a real big problem. So, she was kind of in a spot where she had to do something with her life. She had to make a change.

Michelle Bitter:
I grew up being on welfare. And when I had children, that's all I knew. So, I ended up on welfare. I was on AFDC for a good nine years.

I hated being on AFDC. I felt worthless. I felt like I was at the bottom of the barrel. It was nasty and I never want to go back.

Narrator:
Michelle grew up in an abusive, alcoholic home and became a teen-age runaway at age 16.

Michelle Bitter:
And I was three months pregnant with my first child. I was homeless for say, six months, sleeping in cars, bathing in public restrooms, you know, just washing down and stuff like that.

It was hard. And I was with an abusive person and I left him. And if I wouldn't have left him I don't know what would've happened. I just couldn't take it no more.

Narrator:
After Mikki shared her life story during class, Michelle decided to talk with Mikki about her own struggles, which she was medicating with alcohol.

Michelle Bitter:
She talked about what had happened to her. It felt like then it was like I could reach out to her. I can talk to her. I can tell her everything.

It was like, Mikki, I'm going to be going to jail. She was like, "Why?" And I explained to her what had happened. I had gotten drunk and blacked out. I went after my sister with a butcher knife, I guess. I was going to stab her. I don't remember. And that I might do 18 months in prison for this. And Mikki's like, well, I'm going to help you out. She goes, I'm going to write you up a letter.

It says, oh, boy, (reading letter) "Dear Judge Torphy, Part of my job is to help transition W-2 clients from welfare to work. Part of this work is to recognize and eliminate barriers to employability. Naturally, the issues of the homelessness, poverty, and untreated chemical dependence and mental health concerns have indeed been barriers to (Michelle's) progress. The incident on February 10, 1997, that now comes before you was a crisis of such magnitude that Michelle started to ask for help. She is for once in her life attempting to deal with her problems in a concrete way. Yours respectfully, Mikki Patterson."

Narrator:
Mikki's letter to the judge helped persuade him to give Michelle two years' probation instead of 18 months in jail. She also was placed in an alcohol treatment program.

Michelle Bitter:
If it wasn't for that, I'd probably still be on AFDC or you know, still trying to have children, trying to be on it. I want to go somewhere in life.

This Sunday is mine and my husband's anniversary. We bought this place and we got a van. From renting to now owning, both working. He works days and I work nights so we don't have to pay for a babysitter. That helps out a lot.

I'm working in a gas station being a cashier. But there's nothing wrong with that. Just being happy, I don't know what that is yet. I guess I'm still searching for it. But everything's a lot better now.

A lot better.