Success Stories
Every Life Has A Story
“Wow, now that we have running water again, I will have so much extra time every night!”
Living without running water for the last two months, the single mom with two young sons described her evening routine. One her way home from work each night, Tia would stop at the local grocery store and fill up the water jugs she carried in her car. The grocery store had a sink at a separate entrance where bottles were recycled. It was there that she could fill the water bottles without being noticed. She never filled them at work because she was too embarrassed for her coworkers to know that her water service had been disconnected.
One at home, Tia would use the water from the jugs to prepare dinner and then boil it to wash up the dishes. Next, she would gather up her two sons and take them over to the home of a friend or relative where the boys would be allowed to take a shower and brush their teeth. She took care not to go to the same person’s home two nights in a row. Once there, she would refill the water jugs and take the boys back home where they would complete their homework and go to bed. Tia repeated this process day after day for two long months before coming to CROSS Outreach to ask for some help.
After meeting with Tia, CROSS was able to pay what was needed to have water services restored the same day. With silent tears of relief running down her face, she said, “My sons will be so happy! It has been hardest on them. Wow, not that we have running water again, I will have so much extra time every night!”
In the blink of an eye, life can change forever.
When you are the mother of two young sons, ages 4 and 8, you don’t expect to need to use a walker for the rest of your life. The day that Tonya came to CROSS to ask for help to pay a water bill, my heart broke as I watched her struggle to stand and walk the short distance to my office. Tonya explained that she had been employed and working with the elderly when she experienced a work-related accident while lifting a woman, twice her body weight, into a chair. In one life altering moment, she felt the snap in her back and knew immediately that something dramatic had happened. Tests would ultimately show that she had ruptured a disk and sustained permanent nerve damage.
That is when the system began to fail Tonya and her two little boys. Her employer fought her disability claim and she was left without an income for nearly a year. Her meager savings were quickly depleted. As the young mother navigated the complicated process toward receiving social security disability, Tonya and the children needed up homeless. The day that Tonya arrived in our office her life had already started to improve. She had just completed her disability hearing and was looking forward to once again having a way to financially sustain her family. They were preparing to move into a small rental but the hitch was an old water bill that had to be paid before they would be allowed to have the keys. The bill was for $231.13 which represented an enormous financial obstacle for this struggling family.
CROSS came to their rescue and paid the old water bill removing the barrier. While there are still many life struggles to face, Tonya and her children finally have a place to call home. On behalf of Tonya and all that have been assisted because of your support, we thank you!
Even the richest among us is only one disaster from relying on the help of others.
Kedra said, “Being a single mom is exhausting!” It wasn’t that she wanted to be a single mother, it’s just the way life worked out. Her relationship ended shortly before the baby was born. “When you parent alone, you are both breadwinner and bread maker,” she said. Then there are all the financial responsibilities that go along with renting an apartment, buying a car, health insurance, childcare, food . . . the list seems endless. Kedra struggled to find a job that would sustain herself and her baby and they seemed to be getting by until a virus kept her home from work. Living paycheck to paycheck, there just wasn’t enough money to cover an emergency that had the potential to make them homeless. CROSS came to the aid of this young mother and child, and provided the unpaid balance of their month’s rent. Diapers, hygiene items, and food were also given. Kedra expressed her appreciation, but it was the tears of relief flooding her eyes that spoke loudest of all.
