July Story of the Month: Central Valley Family Overwhelmed with Gratitude

Kids get stomach aches. They get upset tummies for so many reasons: the first day of school, the first day of vacation, pretty much the first day of anything new and sometimes because they ate too many gummy bears before dinner.  When *Patricia’s daughter, Emily, 9, complained her stomach hurt for four days in a row, Patricia knew this was something more serious — and she was right. By the fourth day Emily was in excruciating pain.

Patricia drove her daughter to the closest hospital in Coalinga, but after a brief exam they sent her home. The next day her daughter’s pain was even worse. Barely able to stand and with a blistering hot fever, Patricia drove her straight to Valley Children’s Hospital, 72 miles and over an hour away! A CT scan revealed a ruptured appendix and the risk of the infection spreading from the appendix to other organs was life threatening.

For the next eight days Patricia rarely left her daughter’s side. As a single mom with no family in the area, it was her job alone to comfort her, offer her ice chips when thirsty, and search the hospital room’s TV channels to find her favorite shows. Most importantly, it was her job to keep her daughter feeling safe and loved. Every time the nurse came to draw blood, Patricia was there to hold her hand.

Fortunately, Emily responded to the antibiotics and was released to her mother’s care. After a total of 14 days Patricia was finally able to return to work. She was grateful she had been allowed the time off; however, it came at an incredibly high price. Patricia had received no pay for 14 days and had used up all her savings to pay for the long trips to Valley Children’s Hospital and the meals she had while there. Her July rent was coming due — this time the uncomfortable feeling in her stomach was the realization that there wasn’t enough money in her bank account to pay it. At that time, Patricia had lived at her Villa Esperanza apartment for over eight years — the only home her daughter had ever known. The thought of losing it was unbearable.

As a resident of AMCAL’s Villa Esperanza community, Patricia discovered the Partnership for HOPE Fund was available in a financial crisis like hers. With the help of Judith, her Director of Social Services, she completed an application for rental assistance through AMCAL’s Partnership for HOPE and was granted a one-time rental assistance of $400 toward her July rent. Judith also helped her apply for utility assistance through the PG&E CARE program, which will save her in the coming months on her electric bills, and she will work with Patricia to develop a budget to include a savings plan for future emergencies. The relief Patricia felt overwhelmed her with gratitude.

Emily has been out of the hospital a little over a month now. She has her bounce back and a big friendly smile on her face. She is expecting to have surgery to remove her appendix in September, but for now she is enjoying the rest of her summer. Together this family of two learned the value of having someone by their side when times are tough. Both would like to do something for their community to show how thankful they are. Patricia plans on volunteering at the next community potluck, and Emily wants to help out the younger kids in the after-school program with their math (since this is her strongest subject).

Overall, Patricia and Emily have come through this critical time stronger and more hopeful — not a bad outcome from what started as a tummy ache.

*Names have been changed.

New Partnerships to Bring Food to Older Adults

There is nothing more basic to our humanity than the need for food. When the results from a recent LifeSTEPS resident survey showed over 50% of our seniors were food insecure here in the Sacramento area, we knew something had to be done.

Experiences working with older adults has shown there are multiple reasons a senior may be food insecure. Often seniors just have very little disposable income to use for food after other basics like housing and health care are paid for. They will choose to stay housed and continue to take life-saving medicines on their meager fixed incomes — their grocery list will be the first thing they cut.

Another key factor in obtaining groceries is transportation. Older adults have an extremely difficult time since many have given up their vehicles due to either age or lack of income. Navigating the bus system to get groceries is tricky — especially when you are older and frail. And there are some older residents who simply are homebound — they are physically unable to leave their apartments.

Here in Sacramento we are blessed to have several great non-profits that help thousands of Sacramento low income residents to have additional food resources. We are working with both Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services and River City Food Bank to bring our residents food.  Recently our Sacramento Director of Social Services, Monique Osborn, facilitated a partnership with the River City Food Bank’s Food Commodity Program. LifeSTEPS has collaborated with River City Food Bank to open food distribution programs at four SHRA properties and out of 178 eligible 60+ seniors, 125 seniors are now receiving boxes of food and bags of perishables!

There were a few obstacles that LifeSTEPS staff had to work through in starting up the Food Commodities Program, such as how to help those seniors who could not carry a food box from the community room to their apartment. We now have resident volunteers to assist. Another difficulty was the sign up process. Some seniors were not able to come to the center to sign up, so LifeSTEPS staff, alongside two representatives from RCFB, went door to door to sign them up. If seniors were not going to be home or were homebound, they met with their caretakers. One by one they took every opportunity to spread the word and allow all in need to participate.

The rewards have been heartwarming and tangible. Neighbors are helping each other with getting their food boxes — building trusting relationships in the process and seniors like Lorraine are very grateful for the help. “I’m so happy you found a way to get us food. We have been in need for so long.” –Lorraine (Pine Knoll)

Take Action to Support Older Adults

The future of health care is unclear and news is flying fast and furious… but we do know that older adults are particularly vulnerable. These services, like in-home supportive services (IHSS), provide critical care that helps people like the thousands of older adults we serve across California thrive in place.
 
We have tracked this – when our residents have access to IHSS, about 2% of them each year leave their homes to skilled nursing facilities. When they don’t have this access? 18% leave their homes prematurely and move into nursing homes. Older adults state clearly that they want to stay in their homes. It is humane and dignified.
 
Not to mention – Did you know that in-home supportive services (IHSS) cost taxpayers about $10,000 a year, while a skilled nursing facility costs $60,000, according to a 2009 report from the CA Senate?
 
Please, call your Senators – and keep calling – and urge them to draft legislation that protects older adults.
 
Learn more at Justice in Aging.

May Story of the Month: The Right Impact, at the Right Time

Editor’s note: This story is about resilience.  All of us at some point in our lives have faced adversity–this special family from the heart of California was determined not to let it hold them back.

Eva and her daughter Rochelle

Eva firmly taped the box closed and stacked it on top of several others against her living room wall. She let out a huge sigh of relief–this was the last box she had to pack. Soon the boxes and all her family’s belongings would be loaded in the moving truck and headed to their new house.  Earlier that day Eva and her husband Diego had signed the mortgage papers on a home of their own!

It was only three years ago when their family made the move from Texas to California’s Central Valley and were grateful to find an apartment at AMCAL’s affordable community, Villa Escondido. It was a good decision for Eva and Diego, and their adult son Alberto and eleven year old daughter Rochelle*. In California Diego found stable work as a farm laborer, and the children better opportunities in education. Eva and Diego were grateful to find an affordable home; however, affordability was only one benefit from living at Villa Escondido. Soon Eva and her family would have a long list of what they loved about their new community.  For the first time in many years life was going well for them.

Then a letter from the IRS arrived in the mail. (This is rarely good news.) And for Eva and Diego it was the dreaded news that they owed back taxes. Living paycheck to paycheck didn’t leave any extra to pay the IRS and Eva worried this would put them behind on their rent and in jeopardy of losing their apartment. Eva was frantic with worry until she met with Leni, her LifeSTEPS’ Director of Social Services at Villa Escondido and together they worked out a plan to pay the taxes. As part of the plan, LifeSTEPS approved $400 of financial assistance through LifeSTEPS’ Craig’s Fund. This allowed the family to clear the back taxes they owed and still pay their rent on time. As a condition of the assistance, Eva began meeting with Leni weekly to develop a family budget and learn more about how to create a solid financial plan for her family. Within a short time the family was back on track and even began to build a savings account.

The next hurdle to overcome came in the summer of 2016. Eva was called to Mexico to help with a family emergency since her father was ill. Her son, at 26 years old, stayed home to care for his younger sister and her husband stayed to work the crops. When she returned her husband was barely recognizable to her. In just one month’s time, he had lost 40 pounds and was in constant pain. Eva was in total shock. Diego went through multiple tests as his doctors tried to explain his failing health. Unfortunately, he continued to lose weight and grow weaker by the day.

After many trips to the hospital, Diego was finally given a diagnosis, a tumor on his pancreas. Eva was devastated–the weight of this burden fell on her alone, but for the sake of her children and husband, Eva kept up a good face.  Inside she was terrified of what could happen. This time, she turned to LifeSTEPS for emotional support. Leni met with her one on one each week and allowed Eva to have a space to open up and share her fears.  Sometimes she just cried. The time with Leni gave her the strength she needed to not give up hope.

It took consultations with several specialists before Diego finally found a doctor willing to perform surgery to remove his tumor. The surgery was successful and the doctor believed Diego would make a full recovery. Eva again cried with Leni–this time, happy tears as they celebrated the good news.

The move to Villa Escondido proved to be truly life changing for Eva and her family. Through LifeSTEPS Eva took all the tools Leni gave them: financial planning, budgeting and even how to manage her stress and Eva crafted a better future for her family. With practical and timely support Leni helped Eva navigate the system to obtain disability benefits for Diego and helped Alberto obtain employment so he could also contribute to the family budget. (It is actually through her son’s income that the family is able to purchase a home together.)

This family’s remarkable resilience and determination amazingly helped them grow more confident through each obstacle they faced. Eva and her family rose above unforeseen circumstances that could have easily caused them to lose hope, but instead they are moving forward and focusing on the positive.

Leni is sad to see them go; however, she knows without a doubt, Eva and her family were brought to Villa Escondido at exactly the right time in their lives.  The impact LIfeSTEPS had on Eva and her family is undeniable. And, in this situation Leni shared that the impact is mutual, “It’s been such a pleasure working with Eva. She exemplifies what being a woman of faith is and that has blessed me. To see her go through each ordeal and still have a smile on her face has impacted my life greatly.”

*Names have been changed