Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
lic school system Taylor is provided with an inclusion classroom with scaffold instruc-
tion from a general education teacher, a special education teacher, and two classroom
paraprofessionals. In addition, Taylor receives weekly sessions of cognitive behavioral
therapy and social skills building groups with the school psychologist. Thus, educating
one's child in middle-class, white neighborhoods and suburbs allowed white women on
welfare, like Becca, the possibility of class mobility for their children.
Leanne: Access to Privileged Residential Housing and Material Resources
Leanne is a thirty-year-old mother of four children and a current welfare recipient. Al-
thoughcurrentlyreceivingwelfareandsocialsecuritydisabilityassistance,shestruggles
to provide for her children. Leanne and her family resided in a shelter care program in
Chelsea, Massachusetts, a low-income city adjacent to Boston, Massachusetts, for over
two years while awaiting her Section 8 housing voucher. Describing the time she spent
living in Chelsea, Leanne states,
What a nightmare! I ended up moving out of there. I had someone murdered on
my front doorstep. That was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life:
moving back there. I had previously stayed there, before I got my Section 8, I
wasinoneoftheirshelters.Ihadmyownapartmentandeverything.Itwasnice.
But moving back was probably one of the biggest mistakes of my life. After I
moved in, I found out that I had gang members on the second floor. I couldn't
send my kids outside. The neighbors were dealing drugs out of…. The house
was raided by the feds. The whole building was raided by the feds. It was…. It
was one of the biggest mistakes of my life moving there.
Once Leanne was granted her Section 8 housing voucher, she decided to move out
of the city to one of Boston's suburban areas. Leanne described wanting a safer, more
stable environment for her children to grow up in. She explains,
I thought to myself I had to move somewhere where nobody would least suspect
me. So I moved to Franklin…. It's a very quiet area. Nobody would expect me
to be [a welfare mother]. It's quiet. Um, it's actually been one of the best moves
in my life that I've ever done. I mean I have this gorgeous two-floor apartment.
I have a yard for my kids to play in. My ten-year-old son can go bike riding … I
don't have to worry about any of it [violence].
Leanne currently lives with her children in a two-bedroom, Section 8 apartment in
Franklin, Massachusetts. Franklin is a predominantly white community. According to
