A guaranteed income gave Maylasalisa a lifeline—but navigating broken safety nets, delayed benefits and single motherhood in Jackson, Miss., remains an uphill battle.

A groundbreaking Ms. series, Front & Center first began as first-person accounts of Black mothers living in Jackson, Miss., receiving a guaranteed income from Springboard to Opportunities’ Magnolia Mother’s Trust (MMT). Moving into the fourth year and next phase of this series, the aim is to expand our focus beyond a single policy intervention to include a broader examination of systemic issues impacting Black women experiencing poverty. This means diving deeper into the interconnected challenges they face—including navigating the existing safety net; healthcare, childcare and elder care; and the importance of mental, physical and spiritual well-being. The first-person accounts in this series are available for reprint. Find additional guidelines at the end of this story.

My name is Maylasalisa. I’m 32 years old, and I’m a mother of two boys—my oldest is 10, and my youngest just turned a week old.

Most days, I’m at home with my kids. I’m looking for work now that I’ve had my baby, but otherwise, my life is centered around my family. My immediate family is also here in Jackson, so we see each other often, which is a blessing.

Right now, I’m searching for jobs in cashiering or customer service. That’s work I enjoy because I genuinely like helping people. If I could do any job in the world, though, I’ve always dreamed of being a chiropractor. When I was younger, I used to go with my grandma to her appointments after she hurt her leg. Watching how the chiropractors helped her heal and get back on her feet was so interesting to me. I loved seeing people get the care they needed and recover.

For now, I’ve put that dream on hold while I focus on school and my business. I’m currently working toward a business degree through an online college called Campus. The experience has been good so far. I’ve had great teachers and even a coach who motivates me to keep going every day. I also have an LLC for my boutique, which sells clothes for women, men and children. The boutique is on pause right now, mostly because I had some issues with vendors not delivering on time. It’s been almost a year since I put it on hold, but I’m hoping to get it back up and running. I’m also looking to build my business skills and knowledge to run things more efficiently.

Balancing work and motherhood isn’t easy, especially with a newborn. Right now, I have no choice but to stay home, and I’m enjoying every bit of time I get with my baby before I have to return to work. 

I am part of the latest round of the Magnolia Mother’s Trust, and the timing was divine—I received my first payment the day my son was born. So that was very emotional on a lot of levels, including just the relief to know that money was actually coming in. I was able to buy things for the baby and pay my bills, and get my older son some things he needed for school. So it came right on time.

If there were a similar federal program that allowed moms to get paid while caring for their kids, that would be incredibly helpful. The process of getting government assistance is so complicated and slow. For example, with TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), you have to jump through so many hoops just to get on the program, and then it takes forever to receive any payments.

When I applied for TANF after my oldest was born, I received payments for a few months, but as soon as I got a job, the support stopped. The payments were only about $150 to $200 a month, which isn’t enough to make a real difference. As soon as I got a job, even though it didn’t pay that well, they stopped the payments because they said I made too much. It all felt like a waste of time and effort, especially considering all the paperwork and requirements.

When I was on TANF, I had to attend a class at the medical mall here in Jackson. They taught us how to dress for success and handle job interviews, which was okay. I knew a lot of the stuff already, but I did end up getting a good job after graduating from the program, but like I said I did know how to handle myself in interviews already. But now, the TANF requirements have changed—they want you to fill out job applications and work a certain number of hours just to qualify for payments, and I can’t do that right now with a brand-new baby.

I’ve also had issues with SNAP (food stamps). When I moved back to Jackson from Florida last July, it took almost a year to get my SNAP benefits reinstated because it’s a different system in each state. There was some error on their end and I had to go through interview after interview, turn in paperwork over and over and finally had to get myself to the office in person to speak to a supervisor to get my case processed. All of this happened while I was pregnant with my youngest son.

I left Mississippi for Florida hoping to better myself, but things didn’t work out as planned, so I came back home. I was only in Florida for about two months before returning. Now, as I look for work again, I’m grateful to have family support. When I do go back to work, my youngest will probably stay with his dad or my mom. Having family nearby gives me peace of mind.

If I could speak directly to the governor or the president, I’d ask for more help for single mothers—better programs that actually provide efficient support without all the runaround. There needs to be real opportunities for people to get and keep jobs, better transportation and more accessible resources. They have the money to do these things, they just don’t want to. There’s so much the government could do to help families like mine. Some of the politicians might act like they care. But deep down, I really believe that they don’t. They’re only looking out for themselves, while everybody else is struggling.

For now, I’m keeping my eye on the goal I set for myself this year while I have the money from the trust, which is to get me and my kids into a house—a backyard where they can play, and no one will bully them. I just want my babies to be at peace.

Front and Center pieces are free to republish, under the following guidelines:

Have questions on the series? Read more here, and direct specific questions to Katie Fleischer at kfleischer@msmagazine.com.