When Carmen Ortega left prison in 2018, she knew that she needed a major life change. For more than five years, Ortega struggled with addiction and cycled in and out of incarceration, unable to secure a steady job or housing that would help keep her afloat. Temporary cash assistance was a lifeline.

“In between me coming out, coming in, coming out — I was, for four years straight, homeless. Every time I came out of the jail, I didn’t have nowhere to go,” Ortega, 52, told The 19th, regarding her background before receiving temporary cash assistance. “That is the biggest problem that we have when we come out of prison or jail. Because you don’t have that support, you go back to what you know.”

Ortega describes herself as a “go-getter” who is kind and full of joy. But during those harder years, she could feel the Carmen she knew slipping away, along with the people she loved most: her children. At the time of her first period of incarceration, Ortega’s children were young adults — her son was 17 and her two daughters were in their early 20s. Still, the accumulation of challenges fractured her family’s relationship.

“My oldest daughter said, ‘Mom, I love you so much and I care for you, and every time my phone rings, my anxiety goes up because I think they’re calling me to tell me you have passed away or something. I need to cut you off,’” Ortega recalled.

In 2020, a nonprofit called the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) offered Ortega a lifeline: temporary cash assistance through the group’s Returning Citizens Stimulus program. She was one of more than 10,000 people who received three monthly payments of up to $2,750 each that aimed to help formerly incarcerated people across 28 cities during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ortega put the temporary cash assistance toward putting a roof over her head and setting up a financial cushion, so that she would never have to be homeless again. It was the first step to building a better life and reestablishing trust with her children.

Read the full article about temporary cash assistance for formerly incarcerated mothers by Candice Norwood at The 19th.