Share the Season: Woman gets behind on bills after caring for mother, losing housing
Share the Season is an annual campaign that offers one-time aid to people affected by unforeseen hardships. The people are not identified to protect their privacy.
Sometimes the 50-year-old woman is caught between caring for her elderly mother and her grandchildren.
Last year, when her mother was diagnosed with cancer and had to have surgery, she went to Texas to be by her mother’s side.
By the time she came back to Wichita, she had lost her low-cost housing.
“I now pay full rent and fell behind on bills,” the woman wrote on her Share the Season application.
A friend told her about the program.
She applied and received help for utilities.
The woman said she has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and scoliosis.
“I still get around, but I am in a lot of pain,” she said.
She said she regularly takes care of three of her eight grandchildren.
“I’m very grateful. I love this program,” she said.
So far, Share the Season has raised more than $76,225.
Send contributions to Share the Season at the Wichita Community Foundation, 301 N. Main, Suite 100, Wichita, KS 67202. If you have questions, call 316-264-4880.
To donate online, go to www.sharetheseason.org.
Donors will be listed in The Eagle; please note if you prefer to remain anonymous.
To apply for help, fill out an application at www.sharetheseason.org or pick one up at the Salvation Army, 350 N. Market. The application deadline is midnight Dec. 19. For more information, call 316-263-2769.
Among recent donors: Larry and Arleigh Aldrich, in memory of Ron Sickmann; anonymous, in honor of Ronald and Lois Allenbach; anonymous, in memory of Ken Brokaw; anonymous, in memory of Sophie Hunsaker; anonymous, in memory of Lillian Vermillion and Mary Galyardt; anonymous, in memory of Nancy Vieyra; Bill and Mary Linda Arnold; Lindy Bayouth; Marylyn Blanding, in memory of Max Blanding; Bruce Cochener Foundation; Philip and Emily Bump, in memory of Al Derby.
Coleman Employees Community Fund Inc.; Jeraldine Cooper; SMSGT Leo Ehrlich, in memory of Veda Ehrlich; Carolyn Rose Elder; Mark Gay; Ronald and Mary Gessl; Jeff Kennedy; Robert Lee; Maurice and Rita Linnens; William Lucas; David Ludwa; Greg Martin, in memory of Roary; James and Carol Miesse; Pamela Moreno, in honor of my 95-year-old mother, Evelyn Hensley; Kent Moxley.
Lila Osborne; Louise Parks, in memory of Kenneth E. Parks; Pamela Roney; Roy and Delores Sailor; Rodney Setchell; Richard and Kathy Shoffner; Steamwater Sunday School Class, Grace Presbyterian Church; Randy Underwood; Janet Van Epps; Cody and Robin Wray; and 14 anonymous donors.
This story was originally published December 1, 2014 at 5:05 PM with the headline "Share the Season: Woman gets behind on bills after caring for mother, losing housing."