Before I Found CWEE: A Poem from 1987

Before I Found CWEE
By Julia Doria

Before I found CWEE,
Things were pretty bad.
My life was headed for nowhere
It was kind of a drag.
I worked at a burger stand,
Six days a week.
I was covered with pickles,
Ketchup and grease.

I have a little boy,
He was 3 years old then.
We slept in my car,
Or stayed with a friend.
We had no belongings,
Nothing to call our own.
Not even a babysitter.

Sometimes my son stayed alone.

I didn’t feel like a
Very good mother.
I thought maybe my son would be
Better off with another.
He had no place to run,
No place to play.
I didn’t want my son
To grow up that way.

I was just 20 years old
And ready to quit.
I knew I had potential
But didn’t know how to use it.

Then I found CWEE,
And enrolled in their course
I had nothing to lose,
Things couldn’t get any worse.
They showed me the way,
Helped me discover who I am.
Taught me how to set goals,
And to use what’s inside me to achieve them.

I looked for a job.
I hunted high and low.
CWEE gave me support,
But I ran the show.
I filled out applications,
I called on the phone.
Life was still a struggle,
I felt so alone.

CWEE was there,
They supported me when I fell.
I used to say, “I quit!”
Now I say, “Thank you for calling with Mountain Bell.”

I have my own apartment,
My son is with the sitter.
There are still more obstacles,
But I’ve learned that I’m no quitter.

I realize struggles in life
Will never end.
I solve one problem,
And there’s another one around the bend.

I look back over my past,
And see what I’ve done.
Then look at any obstacle facing me,
And see it as a challenge to be won.

I’ve turned my life around,
In less than one year.
I couldn’t have done it,
Without the people who are here.

Thank you all very much
For helping make CWEE a part of my life.
And thank you also to my supervisor at the time,
For helping me deal with my strife.

Julia read her poem during CWEE’s award luncheon on March 12, 1987. Learn more about Julia here.