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Without the help from loafing dad, mom struggles to provide for her kids

Editor's note: The Time is Now to Help was founded by a local businessman who knew extreme poverty as a child. With the help of donations from the community, The Time is Now is able to help local residents in need.

Dear W.C.,

I am a single mother with two children. I am working as a CNA at a local nursing home and am going to school in the evenings to become an RN.

I am trying to better our lives, but it is such a struggle attending school and paying my bills. How can I better my children’s lives if I don’t go to school?

Nursing is all I know, and I really enjoy helping people.

My ex-husband is out of work, so he does not contribute child support. He never was much support to our family anyway. He liked to work on his car and hang out at the bar. Keeping a job and supporting his family was not one of his priorities.

He does not even care to see the children on his visitation day. They have stopped asking when he is coming to see them. He doesn’t know what he is missing. My children are the best things in my life, and I want to support them the best I can.

My youngest daughter has asthma. With her allergies flaring up, we have had to make several trips to the emergency room. The prescriptions are so expensive, but we do not dare skip a dose, because she cannot breathe without them. Could you please help our family get through this rough spot? Struggling mom

Dear readers, There are so many good people working hard to support their families, and praying they will not be the next in line to lose their jobs and the roof over their head. Here is a hard-working single mother who wants nothing more than a better life for her children and herself.

She knows the only way out of her struggle and poverty is to achieve a higher education and further her career. I commend single moms on their energy to work, care for children and their home, and go to school.

Having a child with special medical needs makes it even more difficult to be self-sufficient in these hard financial times. Everywhere this mother went for assistance, she was turned away.

Housing assistance had a 27-month wait, utility assistance said she earned just over their limit for help, and her ex-husband could not pay any child support. Her family also is struggling, so she would not think of asking them for help. She confessed that she had been swept away by her ex-husband — against her parents’ judgment — and soon found herself pregnant with their first child.

Soon after she gave birth to her first child, she found herself pregnant again. She realized her husband would never be a good father or provider for their family. She went right back to work when her mother offered to watch the babies.

She said she became overwhelmed when her husband would not apply for jobs, help around the house or watch the children while she worked. After trying unsuccessfully to save her marriage, she left him.

It has been a real struggle. She feels sad that she gave up her youth and innocence to a selfish man, but feels even sadder when she sees the effect his negligence has had on her children. She is determined to be positive, work hard and not feel sorry for herself.

She wants to share that attitude with her children. The Time Is Now to Help brought their rent up to date. We also referred her to our pantry to help put good, nutritious food on her table. We had repairs done to her car and paid her overdue utility bills. I encouraged her to complete her education. She only has one year of schooling to achieve her RN. Once she attains that, she will have many more job opportunities.

I thank all of you for allowing us to offer encouragement, support and a helping hand to the many people in need. There are many lives we touch due to your kindness, caring and sharing.

Health & Happiness, God Bless, W.C.

A special thank you to Peck and Weis, Paper Dolls, Michael and Sue Borden, Dick and Jean Honeyager, Martin O’Brien, Lake Geneva GM Super Center, Stackpool Chiropractic, Steve Trueblood, Tracey Hennessey, Judy Dishneau, Dale and Gail Folkers, John and Barb Greibel, Kathy Brooks Parker, Drescher Family Charitable Foundation, W.C. Family Resource Center/Food Pantry volunteers and Bill and Lois McEssy.