Several things came together at the same time to cause Alicia’s life circumstances to spiral out of control.

A single mom with two children working two jobs to make ends meet, Alicia became responsible for two of her ex-husband’s children last year. Going from a family of three to a family of five was straining. Her already stretched resources became even thinner. One of her ex’s children has emotional trauma due to his father’s abuse. Alicia was called out of work frequently to handle his outbursts, disciplinary issues, court appearances and doctor visits. This happened too frequently and she lost both jobs earlier this year. Once that happened, she was out of work for a couple of months before finding another job. An additional issue is that Alicia is struggling to get financial support for the children. One child should receive social security, but the father took it.

Alicia is grateful to have found a job that understands her family issues. This incredible company works with her so she gets her 40 hours each week, even with the challenges to her schedule. This helps a tremendous amount. But it has not fixed everything.

Unfortunately, while Alicia was out of work, the bills piled up. Her electricity and internet got behind, then got cut off. She’d been trying, but it was impossible to catch up. When she called Love In the Name of Christ, she was living with her sister, trying to save enough money to get the electricity turned back on.

Clearinghouse Volunteers got to know Alicia by listening to her story. Once they had the full picture, they began to figure out what resources Alicia needed, and to connect her to those resources. Her situation is a perfect example of how Love INC’s network of churches and community relationships can transform the circumstances a family is living in.

Alicia had saved about two-thirds of her electric bill. St. Theresa Catholic Church in Belleview provided the rest of the money so she could move back into her own house. Because of generous support, Love INC paid the balance on her internet bill. Now she was no longer incurring late fees.

Clearinghouse Volunteers provided Alicia resources to reduce her bills. She made some changes, including getting her internet bill cut in half monthly. She took advantage of Clothe-A-Kid, the back to school clothing program, and was able to get new clothes and shoes for her kids to start school with. She also visited the Personal Care Ministry at Faith Presbyterian Church. This provides her with personal hygiene and cleaning supplies, enabling her to use the money she would normally spend on those items to pay other bills. It also gives her another touch point with compassionate volunteers. She can visit this ministry once a month, if she needs to.

Alicia is financially caught up on everything, and can keep up with her bills each month. She was provided with resources for support groups for non-relative caregivers. Clearinghouse Volunteers spoke with her about Journey INC, the transformational ministry of Love INC. When the next class starts, we hope she will be able to join, and have the opportunity to go from striving to thriving.