Christian Mom Seeks Government Grant Money And Debt Relief
by Cindy
I am a Christian woman who, because of my faith has fought the battle I am currently fighting as hard and long as possible without asking for help until now. However, I have recently made the decision that it is time to ask for some assistance, not because I am tired of the struggle, but because I believe my husband and children deserve more than I am now capable of giving. I will say I am more comfortable giving help than receiving help and that is evident in the life choices I have made until now. As a young divorced mom at the age of 22, I went back to school and got an education in drafting, which allowed me to work for engineering firms supporting my only child at the time for the next 12 years. During that time I married again and began adding to our family having two more sons in the next 15 months. I continued to help support our family in that field until the year 2000 when I was made to realize I had a problem with alcohol abuse. As always, I rose to the occasion by attending an outpatient program, getting sober in the year 2001, and became passionate about the Substance Abuse Recovery Program. I made a decision then and there that I would dedicate my life to helping others to overcome their own demons with that disease. I left the field I had worked and grown in for 17 years, making a quite substantial salary, to start at the bottom of a new career that I was more passionate about than ever. I was happier than I had been in many years. I had a family I cherished, a job that was providing me such satisfaction in the helping of others, and a love of life I hadn't had in a very long time because I had spent most of it drunk. In late 2002, I awoke with both of my hands completely dark blue/black. Panicking, I got in to see my family doctor, who could offer me no answers. She sent me to another doctor that same day who also had no answers but felt sure he knew one who would. The next day I was in Dr. Paul's office who knew exactly what was going on and the treatment process began that saved my hands. I had been diagnosed with Buerger's Disease, a vascular disease that affects mainly the hands and feet and was risking amputation of at least two fingers on my right hand. I had surgery within a couple of weeks to save my right fingers which included opening my entire hand up and stripping the veins to allow more blood flow into the hand. After 98 stitches and six weeks of rehab to be able to use the hand again and I thought we were on the mend. However, I was told that this disease would never go away, that I could go into remission, but it would always be there. During the next two years, I endured a radical sympathectomy, a couple of angiograms and much pain associated with the disease as well as medications. I have gone in and out of remission too many times to count over the next eight years. I wish that was the end of the story. However, this disease is also a Auto Immune disease and through the eight years since that initial diagnosis, I have also been diagnosed with chronic osteoarthritis, two degenerated disks and chronic fibromyalgia. My Doctor is amazed that I am not yet wheelchair-bound and I attribute this to God and my stubbornness. In April of 2005, my Husband of 17 years literally abandoned our family, just not returning home from work one day. It would be four years before we found out where he was and to get him into court for child support and to begin to rebuild a relationship with his children. I am a believer that there is always something good that can come out of negative situations and our rainbow during that storm was a teacher turned mentor to my sons. He was responsible for directing my children and me back to the church. We were all baptized in the church in 2007 and have the best support system in our church family that i could ever ask for. During that same year I met a man in our church who would become my husband on November 7, 2008. He is not only a wonderful and supportive Husband, but he has become the dad to my sons that they so desperately deserved. The following year was such fun as we supported our family well, served our Lord through our church and served His people in several recovery organizations. Life was good in every way. Then in October of 2009, due to the economic times, I lost my job with the Substance Abuse Program, that I had held since getting sober in 2001. Since that date I had tried to help my husband make ends meet by doing odd jobs and helping him to begin a new business. My health was declining rapidly though, and money was getting harder and harder to earn. On March 11th of 2010, my Doctor told me it was time to stop. Time to stop fighting to get a job, to work even odd jobs. He helped me begin the process of getting Social Security Disability, though that is not a quick process. My Husband is still working extremely hard to get his business off the ground, as well as help the boys accomplish chores that once were so easy for me and a source of pride for me, and attend all of the school functions that our children are involved in. I have Faith that God will provide for us; He already is. Somehow our bills stay paid though late. We are several months behind in rent, though our landlord is being understanding. However, even as good as he has been, he is beginning to talk eviction. As small as it is and in is as much disrepair as it is in, it is all that is between us having a roof over our head and being in the streets. We have received help from our church, community organizations, and food stamps. I know Social Security will come through eventually. For the time being though, it is breaking my heart to have to tell my children that they can't attend this function or go to that birthday party because we don't have the funds. We had to return our second vehicle to the dealership to avoid repossession and to preserve what is left of our credit, which makes it difficult if one of the children gets sick during the day at school and needs to be picked up. My Husband has to leave the job he is on to pick that child up. One of our boys suffers with ADD and chronic asthma. The boys' biological dad who was made to pay child support after being gone for four years is working a minimum wage job that puts his child support at a little over $200 a month. He was also ordered to pay $16,000 in back child support at a rate of $200 a month. We are currently receiving $110.35 a week in child support, which helps, but doesn't cover much for two teenage boys. Neither my husband nor I have medical insurance, so all of my medications and doctor visits have taken a toll on us. Although my doctor charges me a minimum charge, it still adds up. My husband has extreme hypertension and is also on several medications a month that has to come out of our pocket also. There are several medications neither of us can even get filled each month because of funds. So though we have a wonderful support system, people have families of their own to support and during these tough economic times they have helped just about all they can. Our church has helped, but because it is such a small church, its resources are limited. My hope and prayer is that my husband's business takes wings and soars very soon. (I'm told the first year is always the most difficult.) I'm also hoping and praying that the Disability from Social Security that I worked very hard for many years to earn comes through very soon. Until then, if there is any grant out there that could help us out, it would mean more to this family than anyone could know. In Christ's love and from my heart, Cindy.
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