The mother of three, who was awarded nearly $11,000 in a taxpayer-funded program for poor families, admits that she spent most of it on a five-day luxury trip to Miami, adding that during her stay, She even admitted to having a $180 makeover to avoid looking like a working mother.
Kaneshia Miller, 27, was one of 132 mothers in Washington, D.C., accepted last year into the Strong Families, Stronger Futures pilot program, which aims to help people living near the poverty line. Ta. According to the Washington Post.
She opted for an unconditional one-time payment of $10,800 instead of monthly payments of $900 and quickly spent more than $6,000 on travel for herself, her three sons, and their father.
“I wanted to blow it off. I wanted to have fun,” she told the DC paper.
“[My kids] I was able to experience things that I would never have been able to do without that money. ”
For this trip, Miller bought 15 new clothes for her children. Each child gets one of hers every day during the holidays. She then spent $180 to make herself look less like a working, stressed-out mom.
Later in Miami, Miller spent much of her new money on steak dinners, new gadgets and toys for her children, and a boat tour of the city’s most expensive mansions.
She justified her spending by stating that she wanted to inspire her children and teach them that if they worked hard enough, they might one day be able to afford a mansion.
Miller then spent the remaining funds on banknotes and a used car.
She had claimed that she needed the money as her financial situation worsened after giving birth to her third son in the summer of 2022.
Miller put her education on hold to focus on her growing family, earned a degree in social work, and was living in a subsidized two-bedroom apartment at the time.
She also received funds from the Temporary Assistance Fund for Needy Families, which helped cover her $120 monthly rent.
Still, Miller said she’s struggling to keep on food stamps.
“Groceries last the first three weeks of the month, but then we’re trying to figure out the last week’s benefit,” she explained.
“It continues, but it approaches its limit.”
Now, she says she wants to open a savings account and keep the $50, claiming the government-funded program taught her how to save money for the future.
She plans to start a new remote job that pays $30 an hour. She credits this opportunity to the confidence she gained from the program.
“Many communities in my area are unaware of the economic benefits of credit. [or] Save for your kids. That’s why we’re bankrupt. That’s why we don’t have anything to pass on, we don’t have a home to pass on,” Miller explained.
“I’m trying to get to a level where I can communicate things that are really important, so that both me and the kids are calm and they don’t have to work as hard as I do now. .”
The newspaper has reached out to Martha’s Table, the D.C.-based organization that administers the program, for comment.
