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Letter: Stable future requires assistance

The Columbian
Published: March 15, 2012, 5:00pm

I am particularly disturbed by the rule that students obtaining an associate’s or bachelor’s degree are ineligible for cash assistance through Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services. Students seeking a higher education should be allowed to receive cash assistance from DSHS.

I am student with a 3-year-old daughter and I do not qualify for cash help because I am working toward my bachelor’s degree in business. When I applied for cash assistance, I was told to quit school and find a low-paying job if I wanted any help. I asked the case worker (who was later promoted to a supervisor) how that would help me provide a stable future for my daughter. His reply was: “We won’t allow you to sit back and collect cash for nothing.” By getting a degree that will help me become an active member of society, one day giving back through taxes and consumerism, I am doing “nothing”? The government is perpetuating poverty by keeping lower classes from getting ahead.

I am currently enrolled in school and taking out as many loans as I can to survive. Why is getting assistance so hard for those of us actually trying to better our lives through higher education?

Michelle Hannah

Vancouver

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