If you're seeking ways to connect with working television industry professionals, both in front of and behind the camera, joining our organization offers you unparalleled access, benefits and opportunities. As one of the estimated 42 million women living in poverty in America, Katrina Gilbert could be just another statistic. Although Gilbert works a 40 - or more - hour week, she still must often choose between getting food for her children and getting medicine for her own thyroid condition.
She has no health insurance, no support from her ex-husband, who has his own substance abuse issues which keep him from holding down a job, and she lives in a trailer that leaks. She passes an entrance exam to get into college to further her education, but does not qualify for financial aid. Yet, in the face of all this, Gilbert presents a strong role model for her children, remaining hopeful throughout.
She does manage to find some help, particularly at the Chambliss Center, where her children receive free childcare and where the younger two are enrolled in the Head Start program. She has a loving, supportive boyfriend, himself a single father of four. She remains an outgoing, friendly woman, beloved by her patients in the extended care facility where she works. Even when she comes home exhausted, she still makes time to interact with her children. Gilbert is representative of women all over the nation who face similar trials daily.
Gilbert was invited to the White House to witness President Obama signing into law the minimum wage bill. She has become a rallying point for women facing the same kinds of difficulties. I was this nobody. And for some reason I was chosen for this. I was chosen to be the face of poverty, the face of millions of others living in poverty. Even though she has become famous, in a sense, she still struggles to keep all the balls she juggles in the air. She sometimes earns a few extra dollars from speaking engagements, but that does not mean that she necessarily has enough money to raise three kids and pay all her bills easily.
She still has to use food stamps. She still has high medical bills. She still speaks authentically for women living in or at the brink of poverty. But Katrina Gilbert remains hopeful, working toward a brighter future for herself and her children. She has just finished her second semester of college, and looks forward to a higher paying job once she finishes her studies.
