Photo by Patrick O’Dell

’m 21 and I was raised in Louisa, Kentucky. I love it here. It’s peaceful. It’s quiet. I have two kids, Destiny and Jacob. They’re one and two years old. I’m raising them on my own because their dad was unfaithful. He pays child support and he sees them once a week for about four or five hours. I met him when I was working at Pizza Hut in Paintsville. We met up there and we were friends for almost a year before we dated or anything. He used to run around with my older brother all the time. We were together for close to three years. Then he decided he didn’t want a family, he didn’t want kids, and he didn’t want the responsibility. So he started running around. I ended up catching him. His manager at the Pizza Hut called me and told me to watch out. It’s common for people my age to have kids down here. I know a girl who’s 18 and she’s pregnant with her fourth kid. I couldn’t imagine doing that! I know a 16-year-old who has two now. I never regret anything myself, though. Just to look at Destiny and Jacob, it’s worth it.

It’s really hard to find good work in this county, especially something that will pay good enough to raise two kids or that you don’t have to drive an hour to get there. I’m not sure why it’s so hard to get work here. A lot of the smaller places shut down. There’s a Wal-Mart in Paintsville that closed a lot of the little businesses, and I think that a lot of the big restaurants shut down the little places too. McDonald’s and Taco Bell.
 

Photos by Jerry Hsu