CASE 11
Just a little while longer has been the mantra for Mr. and Mrs. G. He just entered a training program for people who have been unemployed for a long time and is learning to be an auto mechanic. Mrs. G stays home caring for a daughter with sickle cell disease. They live on food stamps and disability for the daughter. The father struggles with diabetes, and the mother needs dental care. The children, ages 1 to 14, need clothes and medical care. One child needs eyeglasses. They'll accept used clothing and gift certificates for food and clothing. They also need help with utilities, rent and expenses — so they can hold on until Mr. G finishes his training and gets back to work.
CASE 12
R has been sober for a year and says she has to take life one day at a time and 'stay prayed up." R, 47, has two teenage daughters and is working hard to make ends meet. As a family, they are recovering from the effects of R's 25 years of drug and alcohol addiction. R and one of her daughters have bipolar disorder and depression. All three women are healing mentally and emotionally from sexual assaults. Her daughters are in the Job Corps, and R is hopeful for their future.
R receives Social Security and food stamps as well as child support, which helps pay her $500 rent, not including utilities. Pots, pans, dishes, flatware, cleaning products, personal care products and gift cards to Save-A-Lot and Aldi would also help this family. They would also be grateful for new or used clothes, purses and a computer.
CASE 13
When Ms. A isn't coping with severe headaches or her oldest son's lupus, asthma and arthritis, she attends classes full time in hope of becoming a medical assistant. The single mother, 39, hopes such a position would allow her to afford a home for her family of four. For now, Ms. A and her three children — ages 17, 12 and 4 — are staying at the home of a friend. They had lived at a homeless shelter and an emergency shelter but exhausted their eligibility, leaving few options. Ms. A, who also suffers from high blood pressure and gout, would appreciate help paying the $3,179 she owes Laclede Gas. She also would be grateful for furniture and gift certificates for toys, clothing and household items.
Case profiles by Harry Jackson Jr., Jackie Hutcherson and Elizabethe Holland of the Post-Dispatch.
