Shauna Moerke is…

My mom didn’t graduate from high school but she did get her GED. She didn’t continue her education because she got married and had a child instead. She was divorced a few years later before her second child, me, was even born. This left my mom stuck in city far from any family, working as a waitress and trying to support two young children. Add to that an abusive and philandering ex-husband who fought her for custody but refused to pay child support. And this was before deadbeat dad laws.

But we were lucky, because we had the most wonderful person to take care of us: My grandmother. She brought us back to live with her and is the one who raised my sister and I. My mom eventually joined the military and left us with her because she saw it as her opportunity to earn a decent living with only a high school education. My grandmother wasn’t rich, she had grown up in poverty herself, and she certainly wasn’t in a position to raise two more children. But she did it. Eventually, my mom remarried to a great man (who I consider my father, not step-father) who raised my sister and I as his own and provided us with the means and opportunity to truly succeed in life.

My family and our determination are what I credit to breaking out of the cycle of poverty. But I know I’m lucky. It could have very easily gone the other way.

Today is Blog Action Day and the focus is on breaking the cycle of poverty. I hope my story helps put another very real face to the problem. Want to do something to help out? Join in by blogging about it, volunteer, or even just vote on Nov. 4th. It all makes a difference.