JP Alumni Fellow Story: Stasia Saunders
When JP Alumni Fellow Stasia Saunders was a young mother, she had to choose between staying in school and working full time. She chose education.
The 2024-2025 Jeremiah Program Alumni Fellows are using their experiences, expertise, and stories to advocate for other single moms and their families. For 2008 JP Minneapolis grad Stasia Saunders, so much of her story and advocacy are rooted in education. This is her story.
I’m Stasia Saunders. I am a graduate of the Minneapolis Jeremiah campus of 2008. I have one daughter. Her name is Mary, and she is now 22.
When I was 20, almost 22, I found myself a single mom and trying to go back to school and make things different, and I just couldn’t make ends meet, no matter how hard I tried. And I was really frustrated. I felt like I had to make a choice between getting my education to make a better life for us or just drop out and go to work for endless hours trying to make it. I didn’t want to just survive and just keep making it; I wanted to do better.
The reason I chose education was because I come from a big family, and my mom was a stay-at-home mom, and my dad worked all hours. I remember him sometimes having two, three jobs, and there were times where we still didn’t know how we were going to eat or if we were on the brink of eviction. Because, I think, there was no solid education, there were no skills that had been built, really, it was hard to progress and move up and out of that.
Don’t penalize people for getting their education. Let’s change it so, “Hey, you’ve shown us that you’ve made these strides. What can we do to help you get to the next one?”
One of the things to do for getting into Jeremiah was sign up for medical benefits and county benefits, and I did, and when I went, they said, “Well, we can give you medical, food, and some cash.” And I thought, “Great!” But they were like, “To get the cash, you can’t be in school. You have to go back to work.” And I thought, “Well, that’s dumb. Why wouldn’t you want me to go to school so I can get a better job and get off this and get my education?” And I just remember feeling like, “Oh, this is where it happens. This is how you get stuck.” Because I can see in a moment of desperation, like, I really needed the money, too, at that time. So, a part of me wanted to do that, but I did not want to be stuck in that anymore.
Things have to be affordable, and I would hope that they make child care more affordable too so that moms have the chance to really get that education and build a life because it makes such a difference in your family unit and your future generations.
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