United Way program comes at just the right time for families |
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By G. Michael Dobbs
Managing Editor
About the only person who has ever called me an "angel" has been my mother. So I was a little taken back when an elderly gentleman in Holyoke looked at me and called me that when I handed him a certificate from the United Way Warming Hearts and Home program.
That certificate for $300 in fuel assistance meant a lot to him.
Certainly I'm not the "angel," but rather it is the people who have funded the United Way so this program exists.
Back in the 1950s, there was a television program called "The Millionaire," in which a wealthy industrialist would give a person picked from the phone book at random a million dollars. His assistant would then find the person and hand them the check.
I feel a little like that assistant as I traveled through Holyoke, Westfield and Springfield making arrangements to meet people and give them something they need. I get all the thanks even though I am merely a delivery boy.
The awarding of the fuel assistance always comes as a surprise. No one has been told to expect it until they hear from me. Most want to know how they were chosen.
No one who has accepted the certificate has wanted his or her name or photo in this newspaper. They are proud people; some of them still working, while others are disabled or retired. They all share in having circumstances beyond their control that have forced them to require help.
A loss of job or an illness, both unexpected events, could place almost any one of us in the same situation.
Consider the woman whose illness requires expensive medication. Those costs, when combined with her rent, take up 50 percent of her limited income.
Another Holyoke resident is the primary caregiver for his wife who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Her illness has depleted their resources.
One woman relies on just her income from Social Security and can't afford a telephone.
One young woman is a soon-to-be single mom who works 32 hours a week to support herself and her daughter. Her very low income causes her to struggle to meet her financial commitments.
One father of two teenage boys has lost his seasonal job and is looking for training for a new job. He greets me in the parking lot of his Westfield apartment building and seems truly thankful for the help.
Another Westfield resident is raising her two grandsons and receives only a disability income.
One Springfield woman apologized to me for not being able to make it down the stairs to greet me, but she has a "bad heart." She cares for her teenage children.
A senior in Holyoke lives in a house that is neat as a pin on a quiet street between two busy thoroughfares. Her health issues have caused her to make choices on how she spends her money: food versus heat versus prescriptions.
And although the heating season is almost over, the bills from it still loom large for many people. One Springfield man told me while I was setting up an appointment with him that he has a big bill yet to pay and that this help is coming at the right time.
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