Carmen Vazquez: Welfare Made A Difference

The cash allowed us to pay rent at the low-income projects that gave poor families clean, safe apartments to call home.  It allowed us the privilege of going to school at St. Joseph's where tuition was waived, but students were expected to actually have things like notepads and pencils.  It allowed us to buy coats and shoes.  Before food stamps, there was government surplusfood, which we lined up for every month: butter, sugar, powdered eggs and milk, corn meal, spam, cheddar cheese.

The cash assistance and food kept us off the streets and in school.  We had a warm meal every morning and night.  It served as a bridge between the time we were dependent to the time when we could work and take care of ourselves.

Yes, welfare made a difference.  I don't know that college or the rest of my life as a teacher, trainer, and activist would have been possible without the cash, food, and housing that were a safety net for my family and thousands of families like mine.  I don't know that my life as an advocate for LGBT liberation would have been possible without welfare.