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Thelma Williams
| Thelma Williams, 58, caregiver, single mother, grandmother, poet, entrepreneur, defines the meaning of hard worker. Starting her career in the military, Thelma then went to St. Phillips College in San Antonio and received a technical degree in pipefitting. After a number of years with Motorola in Austin, Thelma needed a more flexible schedule to accommodate her children and her aging parents. Meanwhile, a trend toward hiring temporaries (as opposed to salaried employees) was setting in and the result was that the jobs were there, but not the benefits.
Knowing that she needed to find work that offered flexibility for her home responsibilities, Thelma trained to become a nurse's aid and has been working as such for over 30 years. "It's just so ironic that I am a person giving health care to other people, though I can't afford to have it for myself." The plight of those working for any type of contracting agency, whether it be health-related, secretarial or construction, is the same – no health insurance, retirement savings nor paid vacation and sick leave. As the metropolitan area of Travis and Williamson counties continues to grow rapidly, temporary agencies fill the void of required workers, meanwhile individual needs go unmet.
"When I turn 62 (in five years) I plan on filing for my social security. I know it is not to my advantage to file early, but I need that medical benefit. If someone is lacking food or clothing, there are many easily accessible resources that can help, but if health care is what you need that is a whole other issue," comments Thelma. "I truly believe that if people are kept healthy, they will contribute more to the local economy."
After many years of living day to day and hoping for opportunities, Thelma is finally in a position where she can give back to her community. In between her shifts as a nurse's aid, she is either motivating teenagers in her neighborhood to stay out of trouble, pursuing her own creative projects such as her self-published book, Single Black Mother, or making plans to see her grandchildren, but always with the nagging concern in the back of her mind – what will I do if I get sick?
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