I'm not embarrassed

I don’t want to have people think that because I have a low income or considered living in poverty based on what my income is that I’m a failure. Most people think you’re lazy, you’re not trying to do anything. No. I am trying to better myself. I’m not embarrassed.”

Shamikia Ewell

Seeds of Need

1 of 10 in poverty in First State

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Seeds of Need: a look at poverty in the First State

By Craig Anderson

This story has been updated

DOVER — Shamikia Ewell spends her work days tending to children at a day care facility.

She’s devoted to caring for her own kids too, and that’s a struggle as she made $12 per hour in 2023, she said.

Ms. Ewell has five children ages 9 to 24 and the oldest is disabled. One other was diagnosed with diabetes in 2018.

Factor it all in and living in poverty is the reality for Ms. Ewell and her family.

After providing enough food for her sons and daughters, Ms. Ewell said she sometimes scrambles to find her own.

“I’m a mother first so I make sure my kids eat before I eat,” she said. “If there’s only a certain portion in my house, I make sure it goes to my kids and some days I may nitpick food here and there during the day and whatever might be left over in my class, I’ll eat that just to have a food source.”

She’s grateful to have occasional help from family in the area and appreciates her Beginnings and Beyond employer for participating in a backpack program that provides sustenance for her children.

Ms. Ewell said she visits the Delaware Food Bank for her family's nutrition needs as well.

“My family helps as much as they can but it’s a lot for them because they have their own bills, their own life going on,” she said.

It’s still a struggle, though, since “food stamps (which arrive on the sixth of each month) don’t really last long.”

While Ms. Ewell said she tries to provide nutritional meals for her children, “I try to get well-balanced meals that kids like — the meats, the grains, the fruits and vegetables, all that stuff.”

A good diet is essential for Ms. Ewell as well.

“I have health issues also so we must watch it,” she said. “I have high cholesterol, I’m anemic and borderline diabetic myself.”

Ms. Ewell said she receives between $839 to $889 in food stamps monthly. The money comes on a card.

Medicaid covers health concerns for the family, and her disabled son receives federal Supplemental Security Income.

Her family lives in Section 8 housing in the Simon Circle area, paying $550 rent monthly and an electric bill of about $120.

Even as her situation continues “day after day, month after month” Ms. Ewell said. “I still try to keep a smile on my face.

“I’m still trying and determined to get better. I don’t want people to think because you’re in poverty, it’s the end of the world and it can’t get better. I’m trying to get a second job and have been trying for the last year to get my kids a first job after school, weekends just to have a little extra income coming in.

“I don’t want to have people think that because I have a low income or considered living in poverty based on what my income is that I’m a failure,” she added. ““Most people think you’re lazy, you’re not trying to do anything. No. I am trying to better myself. I’m not embarrassed.”