From Food Stamps to Financial Stability

Meagan Hayes made the decision to go back to school after a string of bad days at her waitressing job. It was the off-season, business was slow, tips were bad and she was picking up evening and overnight shifts just to make ends meet. This meant she could not be home with her 4-year old son to make him dinner, bathe him, read to him and tuck him in.

“I just decided I had had enough. I didn’t want to raise my son the way I was raised: with a mom who was working two jobs to keep a roof over our heads and barely home,” she says.

Going back to college was always a dream for Meagan, but the thought of it was overwhelming. As an addict four years into recovery and a single, working mom, her days were challenging enough. Trying to find a way to pay for school, jumping through hoops to get enrolled, changing her work schedule to attend classes was daunting and scary.

But she was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was and a few days later, after buying her books, wearing her diner uniform, she stood in the parking lot of TTC’s Palmer Campus and snapped a selfie.

“I knew it was a life-changing day that I would want to remember forever,” says Meagan.

Meagan is working on getting her degree in human services with a focus on addiction, and wants to put her education and experience to good use by helping others turn their lives around. She wants to empower them to be a contributor - not a strain - on the community.

“I will be going from a single parent on food stamps that works at Waffle House to a financially stable member of society, and I want to help others do the same,” she says.

Meagan procured a criminal record in her wayward years and knows that finding gainful employment as a convicted felon is challenging, a problem many addicts face.

“They get to the point where they want to turn their life around and do the right thing, but can’t find a job. As a result, they return to criminal behavior and eventually end up in jail,” she adds.

Meagan is already making an impact. Taking classes at TTC has given her an enormous sense of accomplishment and she has already inspired others in her life to make similar changes. She told her story through the 2017 Future Alumni Essay Contest and was chosen as a runner-up in the contest. She hopes that others who read it will be encouraged to make changes of their own.

“Who can better inspire an addict struggling with the choice of life or death then a person who chose a better life? I am a person that was in the trenches of addiction and lost everything. I know how hopeless and impossible it can seem. Thankfully, I persevered and now I am living proof that a better life is possible through education.”