“I really didn’t know life outside of the east side,” Lillian says. “I wanted more but I wasn’t sure how to reach more.”

Lillian is a mother to six children, a blended family with her spouse. She was struggling to make ends meet and also took care of her mother, who would watch her children while Lillian went to work. She wanted more for her family but she felt stuck. Tragedy struck as Lillian’s mother passed away, leaving her without the support she relied on for her family.

As if the loss of her mother was not difficult enough, Lillian now had to find a way to put her six children into affordable child care, a tremendous cost and insurmountable challenge that would derail anyone’s stability.

“When she passed, my whole life changed, it was very overwhelming,” Lillian said. “I was in a place where I was stuck. My back was against the wall…. and then I discovered Dual Gen who helped me achieve my goals.”

Lillian was connected with United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County’s Dual Generation Initiative, which serves families on the East and West sides of the city. Dual Gen supports parents and their children to create a multi-generational impact, so that parents can achieve their goals to support their children while their children experience higher quality learning to prepare them for success later in life.

With the support of Dual Generation, Lillian was able to put her children in quality child care while not having to worry about the immense cost of it. In turn, this enabled her to focus on going to school to obtain her pharmacy technician certification. Today, Lillian is a certified pharmacy technician at a local pharmacy where she earns higher wages than she ever had before.

“Dual Gen helped pay for the tests, for the tuition, pay for child care, pampers, wipes, clothes, everything that I needed,” Lillian said. “I am still in shock, I can’t believe it.”

The life-changing, multi-generational impact of the Dual Generation Initiative on Lillian’s family extends past the tremendous progress made in her career. Her children are experiencing higher quality education in a Texas Rising Star accredited child care center. This critical period of education will foster their early childhood development and prepare them for success in school and life.

Now exiting the Dual Generation Initiative as she accomplished everything she set out to do with United Way’s support when she enrolled two years ago, Lillian is still in awe of the support she received.

“It was mind-blowing to know that people that you don’t know actually want to see you win and be successful in life,” she said.

In addition to assistance with child care, Lillian was paired with a Family Coach to help her accomplish other goals she had for her family. Her family coach helped her create and establish a savings account for her family, create a budget plan, improve her credit score, strategize on how to pay off her student loans, how to enroll in a pharmacy tech program and much more. With a stronger foundation today, Lillian hopes to start her own business in the future.

“United Way provided me the opportunity to witness that all things are possible.”

With the support of United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County’s Dual Generation Initiative, Lillian and her family now have the tools they need to accomplish their financial goals and experience stability.

Dual Generation removes barriers for families on the East and West Sides of San Antonio by creating solutions to challenges with housing, education, child care and employment. Dual Generation creates hope by enabling families to achieve greater stability and success.

Lillian and her family now have a more solid foundation that will support them for generations to come.

“I want to give my kids more and show them that you can do anything, as long as you stay focused and just show up and be consistent.”

Wach Lillian’s story on YouTube at https://youtu.be/uc-lMz8ZLH0.