Sandra Chapin

     In sociology we talk about the concept of “sociological imagination” as a tool for better understanding the intersection where personal biography and social history collide. My life experiences reflect an interesting example of this phenomenon. After twenty years of being self-absorbed as an actress, I have found passion and fulfillment as an advocate for families living in poverty. I grew up on welfare, but never thought I would ever have to go on aid myself, and the word “college” never escaped my mother’s lips as I was growing up.
     I have always been extremely determined, independent, and assumed that acting was the thing that I did best in life. I auditioned and got my first stage role at age eight, and then by the age of 12 was working after school in a print shop - stapling and collating to pay for tap classes and trips to San Francisco on Greyhound for auditions. My mother was distant and uninvolved in most aspects of my life while I was growing up and my father abandoned the family after he served two tours of duty in Vietnam. I chose to emancipate myself from my mother and at age 15 moved to Oakland and enrolled myself in an alternative arts school. I continued auditioning for and getting roles in the Bay Area and received a full scholarship to train in the revised acting methods of Stanislavski in San Francisco.
     While performing for the New Shakespeare Company, I became pregnant and married my son’s father at age 19. It was not until 10 years ago, after the birth of my second child, that I fully realized that acting was perhaps the most unhealthy and least lucrative career I could possibly have chosen. I was also a single mother whether I liked it or not. I was abandoned by my daughter’s father during my sixth month of pregnancy and later enrolled at a community college and went on welfare for the first time in my adult life, just as welfare reform was being implemented. The new work requirements made it nearly impossible to stay in school and keep my benefits. I was cut off of welfare numerous times for being in college and told that I had to work instead. I sought help from a local non-profit and was able to get my educational plan approved. I received my B.A. in Sociology from Mills College, was awarded the prestigious Truman Scholarship, and am now an MPP candidate at the Goldman School of Public Policy at UC Berkeley while waiting anxiously to see if I’ve been accepted for the Ph.D. program at the School of Social Welfare for fall 2005. Despite the hardships though, I must say that I am partially grateful that welfare reform happened at this point in history because it has allowed me to discover my true calling. I am currently working full-time for the Annie E. Casey Foundation on a community strengthening initiative in Oakland, Ca. while attending graduate school full-time and raising my kids. I plan to always be in a position working on the front lines for social and economic justice and helping those who continue to suffer despite their best efforts.

Photo Exhibit

A nationally touring exhibit of 50 framed, museum quality, color photographs coupled with narratives created by students who are welfare eligible, single parents changing their lives through the pathway of higher education.  The installation presents a unique view of poverty from insiders’ perspectives and reframes the cultural (de)valuations of poor single parents vis-à-vis family, work and higher education in the United States today. View the Gallery Guide.