A Washington DC mother has told how she wasted most of a taxpayer-funded $10,000 lump sum intended for poor mothers on a luxury vacation to Miami.
Canethia Miller, 27, was accepted into a D.C. government pilot program last year because she and his three children were struggling to make ends meet. The Strong Futures program is one of many in the US, but the only one that offers the cash as a lump sum of $10,800, or in monthly installments of $900.
Miller chose the former – and confessed to the WashingtonPost that she spent more than $6,000 on a five-night trip to Miami for herself and her three sons.
‘I wanted to ruin it. “I wanted to have fun,” she said. The expenses included 15 brand new outfits for her children — one for each child for each day of the holiday — and a $180 haircut to keep her from “looking like a working, stressed-out mom.”
Together with the father of her children, they enjoyed luxurious amenities including steak dinners, new gadgets and toys for her children, brand new outfits and a boat tour of Miami’s most expensive mansions.
Canethia Miller, 27, spent more than $10,000 in tax breaks aimed at poor mothers in just a few months, with the majority going toward a five-day luxury trip to Miami
The stay-at-home mom said that despite struggling to make ends meet, she wanted to spend more than $6,000 on a weeklong vacation that her family “could never have done if I didn’t have that money.”
Miller’s Miami vacation included steak dinners, new gadgets and toys for her kids, brand new outfits and a boat tour of Florida’s most expensive mansions
While others who shared their stories on the program were more pragmatic, Miller said she used up the entire $10,800 in a few months and was struggling to keep $50 in her savings account.
The young mother shared her story as part of a profile in DC’s “Strong Families, Strong Futures” pilot program, showing how the no-strings-attached money helped several low-income mothers.
Unveiled by the city’s Democratic mayor, Muriel Bowser, it is one of a number of programs set up across the US that provide those living at or below the poverty line with money to help them gain a solid financial footing.
The program distributed nearly $1.5 million in taxpayer dollars, with 132 mothers selected to receive a monthly payment of $900 or a lump sum of $10,800.
Miller opted for the flat fee and said being accepted into the program was a stroke of luck since she missed the application deadline but still submitted her paperwork.
The stay-at-home mother said her financial problems worsened when she welcomed her third child in the summer of 2022, but received a range of assistance, including a subsidized two-bedroom apartment in Anacostia.
Funds from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program also helped cover her $120 monthly rent, while food stamps barely helped her reach the end of the month.
“We shop for groceries the first three weeks of the month, then we try to figure out the last week of my benefits,” she said. “It’s taking a while, but it’s getting close.”
After taking a break from her social work studies to focus on her growing family, Miller was accepted into the program — a bonus that immediately turned her thoughts to planning a vacation.
She said she set aside some money to pay essential bills, but invested most of the windfall in giving her family a vacation that they “could never have done if I hadn’t had that money.”
Although other mothers in the program were enthusiastic about how the program allowed them to pay off their debts, Miller decided to spend more than $6,000 on a five-day trip to Florida.
“Every outfit they wore was new,” she added.
While others took home just $900 a month, Miller decided to take $10,800 in a lump sum, putting more than half of it into a vacation in Miami.
Miller said skyrocketing inflation was causing her problems and she was already on a range of food stamps and benefits before the $10,800 windfall
She plays Uno with another young mother who participated in the pilot program ‘Strong Families, Strong Futures’
Miller also spent $180 on new hair and nails, a transformation she still loved in her follow-up interview with the Washington Post.
‘Do you know how good I look in this photo? I didn’t have to look like a working, stressed-out mom,” she recalls.
While some may have thought the money could be better spent, she claimed the vacation could motivate her children for success, while encouraging them that good grades could one day translate into their own Miami mansions.
She added that she had never learned financial literature or important lessons about saving money for a rainy day, something that was presented to her for the first time in the program.
This led her to open a savings account, which she said she wanted to keep at least $50 in, and although she spent the remaining $4,000 in a few months, she insisted the money helped her learn how to manage money save for the future.
‘Many communities in my area do not know the financial benefit of credit, saving for your children; That’s why we’re broke, that’s why we have nothing to pass on or a house to give up,” Miller said.
“I’m trying to get to the level where I’m passing on something that really matters, so that I can be set and my kids can be set, and they don’t have to push as hard as I do now. ‘
She’s now ready for a new remote job that can pay up to $30 an hour, a new opportunity she credits with the confidence she gained in the program.
By comparison, mom Erika James, 34, shared a completely different approach.
Erika James, 34, shared a very different approach to saving the money, saying her only regret was not spending any of the windfall on herself
James spent most of the money on her debts and children and only spent money on her son’s first birthday party (pictured)
The Strong Futures pilot program was run by Democratic DC Mayor Muriel Bowser (pictured) and is the only one in the US to offer cash as a lump sum
She already had an 11-year-old daughter, De’Vire, and began struggling financially after the birth of her son, Loyal, in January 2022.
Her high-risk pregnancy forced her to quit work, but as she scrambled to make ends meet, a friend texted her asking her to sign up for the program.
James was already putting almost her entire paycheck into De’Vire’s savings account, and would use the money as needed to pay bills and expenses.
“If it was on my account, it would just be swipe, swipe, swipe – better to put it on her account,” James said. “I look at my bank statement and see De’Vire and I want to touch it, but I know I can’t.”
While this tactic kept her disciplined in her spending, skyrocketing inflation still left her behind on some payments.
Namely, James blamed her struggles on her demanding work schedule and hoped the payments would help her navigate childcare and be there for milestones.
‘I was always working. But the older I got, sometimes I learned that the mail should just stay there,” James said. “I don’t want to miss those moments with my son.”
Compared to Miller’s exorbitant splurge in Miami, James said she regretted spending barely any of the money on herself, and that her only expenses were about $600 on Loyal’s first birthday party.
“I think I should have taken at least $200 and spent it on myself. But every time I blink, it’s a bill,” she said.
“You look back at things and say, ‘Well, I should have done this,’ and that’s how I feel. Maybe I could have done something different. But the money helped me enormously.’
