“That Will Never Be Me”

Have you ever said to yourself “That’ll never be me.  I will never be in that place.  I will never find myself there.”  And then found yourself in that exact predicament?  I have.  I never thought I would ever be in a position where I could not afford my basic living expenses.  I worked hard to complete my bachelor’s degree 9 years ago.  I loved my profession in human services.  I knew I was on my way to success.  But with life’s twists and turns, I now found myself a single mother, still doing my best to earn a good living and have quality time with my daughter. I’ve opted to sacrifice time away from my daughter as little as possible. The result of that is: less income. Catholic Charities has come to my aid three times in my life. 

The first was during my career in human services in Connecticut. I learned Catholic Charities was a helpful resource and I often referred clients to Catholic Charities. 

In 2005, I left everything behind and moved to Florida to begin a good life and to give my daughter all that she deserved, a stable home.  In the beginning things went really well very quickly.  Within a month, I’d found a job which was very accommodating to my daughter’s and my needs.  Once I secured the job, I moved into a beautiful townhome and was thrilled at our success and progress.  But within a month, the job fell through and I was left with a lease and had to begin looking for work again.  Again, I landed a job quickly but because of the loss of income I found myself struggling to catch up and pay rent.  I was afraid I would lose our home.  I turned to Catholic Charities (CC) for help and CC paid one months rent, helping me to get a float.  With faith, hard work, and perseverance, things got better. 

The third time, CC helped me with what I now see as a luxury.  CC paid my gas deposit, which would turn on the water heater, after I’d been without hot water for almost a year.  In July 2008, after signing the lease and moving into a beautiful home, which I was blessed to find, I realized I needed $250.00 to have the gas turned on and get the hot water heater working.  At first, we had left over hot water from the previous tenants, but when that ran out, we were ok because it was the middle of summer.  When the chillier days came, I boiled water for my daughter’s bath and I, well, just got used to taking cold showers.  It really wasn’t so bad, I found.  We got by for a year without hot water.  In January 2009, when I started getting closer to having the full deposit, I was laid off from the job I’d been in for several years. I hadn’t considered CC for the utility deposit, because it didn’t seem like an emergency.  But when I discovered they could help, I was blessed for the third time by CC. 

Since then, I’ve once again, found employment.  My daughter and I are surviving and we enjoy ourselves everyday. Life is good.  We live in a beautiful home and enjoy the warm showers.  Yet, I am still educating myself and striving for financial security-the day when financial worries are behind us.  But in the meantime, I am so grateful for all of the blessings we’ve received, how far we’ve come, and all of those who have helped us.  Catholic Charities is part of my success because it allowed me to keep moving when things could have seemed hopeless.  

Thank you again!

Forever Grateful