ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 29, 1996 TAG: 9611290061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Good Neighbors Fund
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
For most people, a $40 electric bill is not an insurmountable debt. But for Lorraine (not her real name) and her family, that $40 meant the difference between having electricity and going without.
Lorraine, 25, is a homemaker. She has four children, the youngest of whom was born in November. Her husband Joe (not his real name) has always been a hard worker, but most of his jobs have been low-paying. It has never been easy for the family to make ends meet.
Even when he is working, "things are kind of rough," Lorraine admitted.
But when Joe was laid off from his factory job in the spring, life got even harder for the couple. He has been unable to find work because they don't have a car. When their old van broke down, they couldn't afford to fix it, and ended up selling it for next to nothing. So, any job Joe might find has to be on the bus line and during the hours the buses run.
Otherwise, "we walk everywhere," Lorraine said.
In the past, Lorraine had come to the Presbyterian Community Center for food, clothes and disposable diapers. In November, she came back for help with her electric bill.
The family receives $376 in food stamps each month, and Lorraine and the baby are enrolled in the federal Women, Infants and Children food program, but the family's only cash income is from Joe's unemployment check. That month, it didn't go far enough.
The center, which is supported by more than 20 area churches, screens applicants for Roanoke Area Ministries' Emergency Financial Assistance program, which is supported by the Good Neighbors Fund.
"This year ain't been very good for us," Lorraine said, sadly, and asking for help hasn't been easy.
"Someday, we'd like to try to make it somehow on our own," she said.
Brenda Wass, the family's caseworker at the center, said she hopes they will. But often, she said, "They get slapped in the face so many times, they just stop trying."
Thursday's contributors included:
Joshua W. Chapman, in memory of Ethel V. Wood
Anne-Somers Bailey, in memory of Mary and Somers Bailey
Elizabeth Aldridge, in memory of Bill Aldridge
Gerald Plunkett, in memory of Beulah, Walter and Lowell Plunkett
Scott and Jean Whitaker, in memory of Charles Whitaker
Ellen L. Bowling, in memory of her husband, Sidney
Dorothy C. Ikenberry, in memory of John Ikenberry
Eva M. Bond, in memory of Agee and Bond families
Roy A. Eck
Blanche Foster
Mildred C. Patterson
Robert and Elizabeth Fetter
Richard and Gail Ungerer
George E. Wade
Mrs. H.F. Russ
Leroy Young
H.M. McCall Jr.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis D. Evans
Olivia Graham
Mr. and Mrs. William G. Mason
C.P and Carol Lockhart
The Tuesday Book Club
St. John's Men's Club, St. John's Lutheran Church
Martha Cosby, in honor of Mary Boone, Evie Brown, Clem Brown, Tootie Brown, Tootie Hildebrand, Toni Jolly, Shirley Logan and Marjorie Nunnally
Amy Morris, in honor of Joan and Al Morris
Mr. and Mrs. C. Pieterman, in honor of Cynthia Hornstra
Paperback Exchange
Raymond Patsel
W.B. Rosson and Mrs. Rosson
Roanoke Valley Gay and Lesbian Alliance
ANONYMOUS DONATIONS $185.00
SUBTOTAL $2,400.00
TOTAL AS OF 11/28/95 $5,963.10
Checks made payable to the Good Neighbors Fund should be mailed to The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 1951, Roanoke 24008.
Names - but not donation amounts - of contributing businesses, individuals and organizations, as well as memorial and honorific designations, will be listed in the newspaper. Those requesting that their names not be used will remain anonymous. If no preference is stated, the donor's name will be listed.
LENGTH: Medium: 87 linesby CNB