The Roanoker - May/June 2021 - 34
Neysha Melendez
Women, age 25 to
35, are 69% more
likely than men
of their age to be
poor -U.S. Census
Bureau data
Neysha Melendez's life is full of family.
She's got four kids, between the ages of
eight and 12. Both her parents live in her
Raleigh Court house with her. And she has
three sisters nearby; between them, they
have four kids of their own.
" We're all very close, " says Melendez, 31.
" We help each other out with the children.
So it's great to have that. "
Since 2017, she has worked for Action
Personnel Inc., a staffing agency, first as
a receptionist and now as an assistant
recruiter. She loves her job, where she's
found a mentor in her boss, and can use
her Spanish-speaking skills as a translator.
Before that she worked as a nursing
assistant, but the 12-hour shifts meant
she was always late, either for work or
picking up her kids. The West End Center
for Youth, where her children go after
school, closes at 6 p.m., but her hours were
from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. As a single mother,
all the responsibilities as caregiver and
breadwinner fall on her shoulders.
Her recruiting job also offers room for
advancement. She's taking online classes in
business administration in hopes of earning
the college degree she missed.
She was 19 when she had her first son.
" Mothers don't have a choice but to
grow up, " she says. " For dads, it doesn't
really matter if they do or not. "
She and the kids are on Medicaid
and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) benefits. Even though
she works full-time, she doesn't come
close to earning the United Way's yearly
household survival budget.
It's family that has made the
difference. Melendez's mother underwent
chemotherapy in 2020. But she often
makes dinner for the household.
" We supported her, but she supported
us, too, " Melendez says. " It's hard to say
who helped who the most. "
34 MAY/JUNE 2021
Deoncoe Hilton
25.7% of people
with a disability
were living in
poverty in 2018
-U.S. Census
Bureau data
Deoncoe Hilton will be the first to tell
you he's overcome hurdles in his life.
He fathered his first child in his teens,
spent four years in prison for a cocaine
charge and in 2003, an ex-girlfriend and
three of his children were shot in a domestic
dispute. Only one of them survived.
But by 2017, Hilton had made his peace
with the past. He'd held down a good job
at Altec-building trucks-for seven years.
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The Roanoker - May/June 2021
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker - May/June 2021
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The Roanoker - May/June 2021 - Cover3
The Roanoker - May/June 2021 - Cover4
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