Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 29, 1993 TAG: 9311290017
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Three years ago, Anita had a good job as a nursing assistant. At that time, "we were doing pretty good," she said.
Some of the trouble began 15 years ago, when Anita inherited a house. Soon afterward, she discovered $900 in back taxes assessed against it. She had to take out a loan to pay the bill and to buy fire insurance, without which she wouldn't have been able to get the mortgage.
Next, she tried to rent out the place, but after a few years she moved into it herself. She married that year, so there were two incomes coming in.
But in September 1991, she was injured while working. She tried to return to work after using all her sick leave, but she missed too much time because of her illness and was laid off.
She applied for disability. While she was waiting for her case to be resolved, she was faced with a mortgage payment she couldn't meet.
Anita had heard about Roanoke Area Ministries from a friend and decided it was time to ask for help.
"I was in such a desperate state when I heard about it," she said. But asking was hard, and it still brings tears to Anita's eyes to talk about it.
At RAM, she was told that if she spent all her savings, the agency would match the amount with money from the Good Neighbors Fund. She was able to keep the house.
Approval of her claim dragged on, and Anita came back to RAM in March 1992 for help with a utility bill. That time, two other charities also pitched in.
But even after the checks started coming in, the hard times weren't over. Anita's husband was laid off later that year. Although they both have been able to find part-time jobs, they also are supporting a grandchild who lives with them.
Soon after she was laid off, Anita went to business school, hoping to work in the medical field in administration. But she ended up taking a telemarketing job instead, which later led to a position with a mail-order company.
Anita said she enjoys the work, although she only goes in a few hours a day. She would like to make more money, but is limited in what she can earn before deductions are made from her check. Besides, she said, she often is sick, and is physically unable to work 40 hours a week.
Finances are still a problem for Anita and her family, but she is grateful for the help she received from RAM. Without it, she said, "we would have lost the house. We would have been homeless."
"It's still a strain," Anita said, but she tries not to worry too much. "I put it in God's hands," she said.
Checks should be made payable to Good Neighbors Fund and mailed to Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 1951, Roanoke 24008.
Names - but not the amounts of donations - of contributing businesses, individuals or organizations, as well as memorial and honorific designations, will be listed. Those requesting that their names not be used will remain anonymous. If no preference is stated, the donor's name will be listed.
Gifts cannot be earmarked for any particular individual or family. Gifts are tax-deductible.
by CNB