“Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you.” ~ Aldous Huxley
The City of Alexandria, Community Work Experience Program, JobLink
28 June 2011 – Ayanna Nahmias was invited to address the participants of Alexandria’s Work Experience Program as a motivational speaker. She related to participants the challenges she faced and overcame when she reentered the workforce after receiving welfare benefits.
It took Ayanna 9 years to rebuild her life after her husband abandoned her and their unborn child. She provided encouragement to the participants of the program who are nearing the end of their Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits.
Her personal experiences as a TANF recipient who then secured a job as administrative assistant and over the course of 8 years transformed opportunities into promotions that ultimately resulted in a 3-year tenure as the Deputy Director of Wireless Services for a local government agency.
Related articles
- Census: Welfare climbed in recession (politico.com)
- Economix Blog: Nancy Folbre: Welfare Reform Revisited (economix.blogs.nytimes.com)
- House bill bans welfare spending at strip clubs (money.cnn.com)
- Take back the TANF box by Statewide Poverty Action Network (socialactions.net)
