A mother is discharged from the hospital
after the birth of her child. The sudden increase in household
expenses, concurrent with a decrease in income, has strained the
coupleís finances. She may not be able to return to work for several
weeks. The family needs assistance to pay their electric bill so they
came to the Coalition to ask for help. After a brief interview, a
volunteer calls the electric company and pledges that the Coalition will
pay the bill. The family is also given food for seven days, clothing
and pampers for the baby. If needed, our volunteer could arrange to
purchase formula for the baby. By providing food and clothes, the
Coalition enables the couple to have a little more cash to help pay
bills.
A couple, each in their seventies, has
chronic but manageable health problems. They have Medicare for health
insurance, which does not pay for prescriptions. They cannot afford
the premiums for a supplemental policy. They do not qualify for
Medicaid assistance because their moderate combined Social Security
income is over the allowable maximum. They manage, most months, to pay
for their basic needs; however, if one becomes ill a critical
situation arises. They often postpone seeing a physician when sick, because they cannot afford to pay for any more medicines. So they
wait, hoping the illness will pass, but instead their condition can
worsen and require more extensive care and treatment. One day they
visit their doctor and are given a new prescription that is quite
expensive. A neighbor suggests they come to the Coalition and ask for
help. The couple is interviewed in the office and the new prescription paid for. They
are encouraged to tell their doctor that
it is difficult to pay for some of their medicines.
A woman and her two children live in a
rented apartment. The mother has always worked and paid her rent on
time. Each day she takes her children to daycare and then drives 15
miles each way from work to home. Her car breaks down, so she misses a
week of work to arrange repairs. She pays $380.00 to the garage for the
work done. Now, itís the first of the month and her rent is due. She
comes to the Coalition in tears, not sure if sheíd made the right
decision. Our volunteers agree with her decision to use her money to
repair her car, so she could continue to earn a living and support her
children. Her rent is $400 a month. (The Coalition pledges to pay the
landlord $100 and he arranges a payment schedule
for the balance with our client. Since she has been a reliable tenant, he
agrees to
work with her.
A 20-year-old gentleman moves to Southern
Pines to start a new home of his own. He has a little money saved and
rents an apartment. After a few months he realizes that without a car
and an education he will have difficulty finding employment fast
enough to begin meeting his financial obligations. He came to the
Coalition afraid he would soon be homeless. Our volunteers talked with
him about the options available to help prevent this type of crisis.
The young man called his parents who live in another state and they
said he could come home. The Coalition paid for his bus ticket home so
he could better prepare for life on his own.
A couple came to the Coalition early one
morning because the woman had a sudden swollen and painful dental
problem. You could tell she was in terrible pain by just looking and
talking with her. She had no insurance or family dental provider. Her
husband had just started a new job and it would be weeks before he
would have his first paycheck. She needed the services of a dentist
right away so the problem would not get worse. The volunteer she spoke
with called a local dentist who has very generously given of his time
and skills to assist individuals when we have asked. He agreed to see
her that morning and he treated an abscess successfully. In addition,
he scheduled a dental extraction she badly needly. Although the
procedures he performed would customarily cost several hundred
dollars, his charge to the Coalition was only $100.00.
A Moore County Schools Social Worker
calls because a student in the elementary school wears the same thread
bare clothes to school each day. The family cannot afford new clothes
for all four children. The school social worker comes to us and
selects clothing for the young boy.
A home health nurse comes as a representative for a family. She is
caring for an infant at home diagnosed with severe birth defects. The
doctor has ordered a special formula that is very expensive. She asked
if we could buy some of
this formula to give the family a respite from
this ongoing expense and the Coalition paid $80.00 to the supplier.
