Coming from an immigrant family with really low income, it was always kind of pressed upon me that the only way to get out of poverty was to go to university. As a child, I was very housing-insecure, constantly living in motels or with distant family. It’s definitely why I work with the homeless now. Until I was 14, we would get evicted probably once every two years. My dad is a disabled U.S. veteran. My mom probably should have been on disability, but was not, and had a lot of substance use issues.

My dad is from Mexico. He came over as a child in the 1940s, and then fought in the Vietnam War and is now disabled. My mom was from Ohio, and her family was very low-income. But they met in Colorado Springs, because my dad was doing work at the Air Force base, so I didn’t speak Spanish growing up.

I just never felt like I had a stable place. But I would say in terms of my personality or resolve, it just really taught me not to value materialistic things. I don’t have any of my baby photos, for example. They were lost in one of the many evictions and that definitely hurt a lot growing up. But a lot of my friends are refugees and immigrants, and they don’t have any belongings from their childhood.

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  Angel, who grew up housing-insecure in Colorado Springs, Colo. and now lives in Denver, worked nights to put themself through college.
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  Angel is now an EMT and medical assistant working with the unhoused population.
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  Angel, now 28, is considering taking on additional debt to attend medical school.

I knew that for the longevity of my life and to escape poverty, I needed to get educated. Additionally, of course, there was some immigrant guilt built into that as well. I didn’t really know how to apply to school or financial aid, so I would go in after class in high school and ask the librarians to teach me how to apply for college. 

I got a full ride to the University of Denver, but then was shocked that I still had to take out student loans because I had to pay for room and board. It seemed crazy for someone who was housing-insecure to pay $10,000 to live in a room with three other people, plus a $5,000 meal plan. I just started crying at the financial aid office. My mom started crying. My dad started crying. It was a really big deal.

I remember going to the bookstore to buy textbooks for my first year, and again crying there. And my parents were like, maybe you shouldn’t go to college, maybe it’s not affordable. I couldn’t even afford textbooks, so I had to kind of just figure out how to survive in school.

In total, I took out $31,000, which I know is below the national average. But that $31,000 meant a lot more to me, because each year I worked three jobs from freshman year to senior year. I worked nights as a desk assistant, and I did all my homework while working through the night. I would do the 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift on weekends, which was horrible. 

After I graduated, I was an analyst for three years. It was definitely the highest-paying salary I’d ever had; I was earning 4 times more than my parents had ever made combined. And then I quit my job because I thought, “Actually, I kind of hate this and it’s not worth the money.”

Angel shares an apartment with their girlfriend and keeps living expenses to a minimum.

I decided to become an EMT and go work with the homeless at the Colorado Coalition. I’m incredibly happy, it’s totally worth a pay cut from my previous role, in my opinion. I know it’s not feasible forever, because it’s minimum wage. But I know that there’s a lot of opportunity in health care – and I just really like the population. 

Since I grew up quite poor, I don’t really want nice things. I don’t have a super high cost of living and I don’t have that lifestyle inflation. And that’s really helpful. I wouldn’t say the same for somebody else living on my salary. My rent is $1,700 for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment, and I split it with my girlfriend. I would say after tax and health care, my take-home salary is $1,400 every two weeks. I do a lot of overtime, so sometimes the checks are closer to $1,800. I feel like it’s livable, but it’s definitely not fun money. I’m not saving a lot. I’m just paying the bills, paying my student loans and kind of just hanging out in Denver.

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  Despite earning minimum wage, Angel feels thier work with the city’s unhoused population is rewarding.
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  Growing up in poverty has taught Angel not to “value materialistic things.”
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  Angel says their wages are enough to live on, but there’s little left for long-term savings.

I went back to campus three weeks ago, and I walked into the bookstore. It was 10 years later, and I’m an adult now. I wanted to see if it’s still crazy expensive. I saw a sweatshirt that cost $85 just for the logo. And I was like, oh no, it’s still expensive, I’m not crazy. But yeah, I still wouldn’t buy anything there. 

I plan to take out even more debt eventually. I want to go to medical school, so I think that in the long term that will be a good financial opportunity for me. And I don’t feel afraid to take a financial risk to help my community.