BROKEN HEARTHS: For a San Miguel single mother of four, furlough brings host of fears

Elisa Becerra, a psychiatric technician at the California Men’s Colony for a decade, is accustomed to a certain level of stress. Each work day, upon stepping through the gates, she comes face to face with some of the prison’s most emotionally troubled inmates.Now, though, that stress has come home.

Becerra, 32, made more than $50,000 a year before the state announced that it was furloughing employees, essentially cutting pay 15 percent.

A single mother of four children — ages 2½ to 10 — she wondered how the family would survive on her shrinking monthly income.

The furlough “pretty much took the money I had to pay my rent,” said Becerra, who pays $1,200 a month for a modest single-story home in San Miguel. “I asked myself, ‘Am I going to have to move? Am I going to have to move out of state?’

“I was beside myself and in tears.”

Shortly after Becerra found out about the furlough, she sought out a colleague, a psychiatrist at the prison, and “he helped me to focus on the kids at home, not the financial stress and strain.”

“He saw me under stress and offered his support,” she said.

Caring for her children — Rosaley, Krysta, Mia and Moses — is helping her keep the troubles in perspective, but she said it’s not easy telling them that they can no longer afford to go out to dinner, the movies or take road trips. Becerra is struggling to keep up the payments on the family van and recently worked some overtime to help make ends meet.

To cut back, it’s a day at the park or anything else that’s free.

The life changes have not been lost on the children, especially her 10-year-old math whiz, Rosaley, and Krysta, an artistic 8-year-old.

“I worry that we won’t be able to pay the rent and that we’ll have to move away,” Rosaley said. “I’m not taking things for granted. I guess the most important thing to me is to still have a roof over my head.”

Rosaley and her siblings excel in school and have not had any discipline or emotional problems, Becerra said. But they are concerned about their future stability and often behave as if they are wise beyond their years, she noted.

When Becerra mentioned to Krysta recently that she should follow her dreams, she asked her mother what would happen if she didn’t have enough money to pay for her education. Becerra told her she would find a way.

“I don’t mean for them to see me under pressure,” Becerra said. “Sometimes, it’s unavoidable and it contributes to them feeling like they have to be more responsible.” Becerra, one of eight children, said she understands what it’s like not to have the basics, and she wanted more for her own family.

“They’ve never demanded much as far as material things go, and they’re OK with what we have,” she said. “But the ability to give them more was within my reach.”Now, Becerra says, the state cuts “have taken that.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2010 at 11:55 PM with the headline "BROKEN HEARTHS: For a San Miguel single mother of four, furlough brings host of fears."