ZEBULON - Poverty can be a way of life for people who don't have a job, but for many who do work, it's still hard to make up ground following a setback when the paychecks start flowing again. And for others, stuck in low-paying jobs, the challenges can be equally as great.

Crystal Montague understands what it's like to not know where the next meal is coming from.

"We had to think about who we could ask to help us next," said Montague. "Who hadn't already helped us too many times."

With a husband out of work, and Crystal unemployed as well, things were tough around the Montague household. "We were just trying to make it," she said. "It's a struggle. It's a bad struggle."

Things are looking up for the Montague family now, though. Crystal has found a job through the Work First program and the family has $1,300 a month to live on. It's not much for a family of four, but relatively speaking, it's progress.

The Montagues are among the working poor in eastern Wake County. They eek out a living with hard work at low paying jobs and help from the government.

"I'm just trying to have a job to be stable, trying to save up and get my car fixed," she said.

Crystal, her husband Terry, and their two children, now have an apartment and don't have to live with family members.

It's a long way from when Terry first was laid off from work from Welsh Paper Company in Youngsville four years ago. He landed another job at Wal-mart in Wake Forest, but was laid off there a year later. Crystal and Terry met when she was in 10th grade. She dropped out of school to make a life with him. After her children were born, she stayed home to take care of the children.

Work First gave her a chance to go to work. Her children are provided child care at Kid's Zone, and even before she had a car, Work First provided transportation to and from work and daycare. The family also makes use of other social benefits like food stamps and Medicaid to help ease the financial crunch.

Crystal works in Clayton and Smithfield at Pizzazz, a second-hand clothing store whose proceeds help fight domestic violence. She loves her job steaming and sorting clothing and helping customers.

Crystal wishes she had stayed in school and would like to go back. But her erratic schedule at work prevents it right now. Her schedule changes each week.

Only 22, Crystal Montague's known tougher times. Her mother died when she was 13, and she lived in foster care for a while before her grandmother got custody of her. She said she was molested as a young child and still deals with the trauma of sexual abuse today.

But she takes comfort in her family. She's proud of the fact that her children come home from daycare knowing their ABCs, the days of the week, the months of the year.

And she remembers how she always loved high school.

She's learned her lessons the hard way, but Montague says she knows what her children will need to focus on when the time comes.

"Don't just jump into the adult life too fast," she said. "I wish I would have stayed in school and gotten my education."

Getting that education could very well help the Montagues children avoid the grip of poverty that bedevils so many of eastern Wake County's working poor.