Patti (name has been changed) is a professional, a medical assistant. She is thankful for her job even though her
pay is less than what is needed to raise 17 and 19 year-old teenagers.
Patti’s story reflects the journey of many of our Grace Care
Center (GCC) friends who are single parents, with a job but still struggle to
make ends meet.
This chapter of her life began 2 years ago when the trustees
office told her about the kinds of support available at Grace. She was at the trustees office because of
financial problems that creep into the lives of many of us. In addition, a
friend at work had shared with Patti her struggles of economic survival and how
she had found GCC.
Patti shared, “At
first it was scary for me to be here (GCC).
Two years ago when I came into the waiting area, there were people
everywhere. I knew no one. But if a newcomer to GCC was to ask for my
thoughts, I would tell them to give it time.
You will meet people, make friends, hear their story and grow to be
comfortable here. There is no food
pantry like it. Nowhere do you get the
variety of food. My 1st night
here I was surprised to get fresh produce, milk and frozen items. I can stretch
my budget because of the food.”
Patti lit up like a bright light bulb when she was asked to
describe how she benefitted from being a member of the Co-Op. “Oh! My
gosh” she said. “You guys have helped
me so much. My son had just gotten his
driver’s license, and I was having the oil changed. They took my son and showed him how to check
the fluid levels in the car, so that he could keep the car safe to drive. That was amazing! Vehicle services at Grace helped negotiate
lower prices for car repairs when I had an accident. One time at Christian Brothers Auto Repair, I
saw a couple with a newborn baby. The
father was feeding the infant, and the mother was volunteering her time. She had just had that baby, but it was very
important for her to be volunteering in the Grace Care Center Vehicle services. So, her husband was there feeding the baby
while the mom volunteered. That was
amazing to see.”
An enthusiastic Patti continued, “Referral services has helped me with my limited budget. Through their coaching I have learned to
train my teenagers that they have responsibilities to pay some of the bills. Through the coaching I learned that it was
good training for my children to learn financial responsibility. Some day they are going to face the reality
of paying all of their own bills. As a
good mom, I can begin to train them now.
Without coaching from the people at the Care Center I would not have
known to do this. And, my children
understand and accept these responsibilities.
I was hopeful to get a
better paying job with a larger medical practice. But, it did not work out. Had it not been for the volunteers at the
Care Center, it would have been so easy to delay further job searches. But, they were there for me and helped me
rewrite my resume then nudged me along to continue the search. Without that encouragement, I would have
delayed the search and possibly lost out on an opportunity. The search goes on.
When asked about her church home, Patti identified Grace as
her church home. She admitted to the
competition between Saturday and Sunday soccer and church. Also, she said she is on the fence about
organized religion. She was put off by re:generate. She shared about her need for worship and
hearing the sermons and how distracted she is about money issues in
church. She acknowledged that the word
about expansion and the cost needs to get out, but it does distract her. “Maybe
it is because of my lack of ability to provide financial support effects my
attitude. I want to get beyond where I
am now. Financially I want to become
more stable so that I can give back to the Care Center. Like I said earlier, I have a job and I am
better off than many. I am thankful.”
Patti’s journey continues.
We are glad that she is a part of this family of friends at the Grace
Care Center.
