Maria Shriver's new mission
Shriver speaks out to AOL.com on her passion project spotlighting mothers on the brink of poverty
It's a story of one mother struggling to survive the day-to-day with her three children even with a full-time job. Katrina Gilbert, a full-time nursing assistant who cares for the elderly, gets paid $9.49 an hour. Though she's been married, the 30-year-old gets no financial support from her ex-husband causing her to scrape every penny she earns to survive.
Gilbert is one of 42 million American women living on the brink of poverty despite working so hard to fulfill their American Dream, according to NBC Special Anchor, Maria Shriver.
Shriver's "The Shriver Report" has teamed with HBO to tell Gilbert's story in an hour-long documentary "Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert". The documentary follows the arduous daily life of the Tennesee mom who's only wish is to get her college degree.
Gilbert's story is highlighted in Maria Shriver's latest work partnering the Shriver Report with HBO for an hour-long documentary "Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert."
Shriver, also a mother of four, tells AOL.com's Dr. Karen Latimer, why she chose to focus on women like Gilbert. "The goal was really to put a face on those figures," says Shriver, "It's kind of hard to imagine 42 million. What are their lives like? The truth is millions and millions, even more than that, Americans can identify Katrina's life of living paycheck to paycheck. The choices you have to make, how difficult it is. And we wanted to shine a light on women who are doing it all but barely hanging on."
Shriver says that Gilbert surprised her in an unexpected way. "I think what continuously surprises me is how positive women like Katrina are and how inspiring she is and how hopeful," Shriver said. "When you're around people who have so much more than Katrina and they're complaining, myself included. My cellphone doesn't work, I can't get here... and I watch Katrina it's humbling."
For more on Maria Shriver's HBO documentary "Paycheck to Paycheck: The Life and Times of Katrina Gilbert" head over to HBO.com or ShriverReport.org to watch the full film for free. And for more conversations like this one, visit AOL.com
