A family's journey to financial freedom
“Thank you to everyone who is a part of the FOX4 Love Fund and for your continued work to support our community! ”
This family came to me almost a year ago in crisis. The mother and father had separated due to drug use and domestic violence by the father. The mother worked full time and had few resources to help her with childcare and supporting her family. Throughout the year, the mother worked toward many goals and has accomplished all of them in just ten short months. She found safe, permanent housing, received new bed sets for both children, got rid of a broke down truck, and got a (new to her) used car. She worked out the custody arrangements with the father, and he received treatment. She ensured her daughter's education throughout the pandemic and enrolled her son in an early education program to give him a head start. Throughout the year, our agency stood beside her, assisting with rent and utility payments, providing food and hygiene items as needed, and ensuring the family's needs were being met. The mother has even done so well that she is now enrolled in college and working toward her degree. She is a tremendous mentor for others who are struggling, and she appreciates all the hands who have helped her up during this difficult time. At any time, she could have taken her children out of school and uprooted their lives to be closer to her family, who would have provided for them, but she wanted to stay here and work toward her goals.
The mom is incredibly grateful for the FOX4 Love Fund for Children. When we started case management, the mother created 16 goals (more than most) to complete within a year. She has worked hard to provide for her family and sought out resources when available. She attended Financial Empowerment classes and used the material to improve her housing and transportation situations. She has done everything she can to improve her children's quality of life, and the Love Fund provided one more way to do this. Thank you to the FOX4 Love Fund for Children team and all the donors who make this program possible. Today, when mom and son came to pick up the clothing, I watched, and they both laughed, digging through the box to see all the goodies. Her son even started separating his clothing and talked about his new" cowboy" pants and shirts that he could wear to school. It took quite a while to talk him into putting them back into the box so that they could easily carry them out to the car. This is one less thing that the mother has to worry about and an amazing gift to the family; another hand up in her journey to financial independence and supporting her family on her own.
**Identifying details have been removed to protect the family.