Film Description

Take It From Me is the story of four women struggling against great odds to raise themselves out of poverty. It is also an in-depth look at the street-level impact of the 1996 Personal Responsibility Act, just as the act's five-year limit on public assistance goes into effect for the first time. Is welfare reform working? Shot over a two year period in New York City, Take It From Me lets the women speak for themselves.
Iyoka and her husband Louie applied for welfare after a fire rendered them homeless. Less than a year later, they are cut off from the benefits that had been helping Iyoka pursue an education. Twenty-year-old Abby, a single mother of two, is in despair over her inability to afford decent housing or obtain public assistance. Unable to pay for an apartment, she loses her children to foster care. Middle-aged Theresa contends with mental illness while struggling to negotiate the job world. Unable to find steady work, her sense of panic grows as welfare time limits loom. Valentina is a tough, reflective survivor of drug addiction and welfare dependency. A self-described "welfare reform success story," she nonetheless strains to support herself and her three children on a cafeteria worker's wage.
Directed by a former caseworker, Take It From Me eschews easy answers and asks disturbing questions about the human impact of our nation's current welfare policies.