Not the Life Imagined But Family Remains Hopeful

$8,616 Keep This Family Together

This family has been recommended by St. Mary’s Women and Children’s Center.

Mrs. W crackled with excitement upon receiving her 2007 Visa to join her husband in America.
He migrated to Boston years earlier. She and their daughter, T, arrived to discover a habitually unemployed, compulsive gambler. Worse, he lived with his mother where the new arrivals weren’t welcome. Mrs. W wondered about the wisdom of leaving her rural farming community in China. Still learning English, she was now alone with her daughter in America.

Undaunted, she moved into a small bedroom in a boarding house with T, sharing a small dirty bathroom with other families. She took a job in a garment factory. The long hours meant relying on her husband to care for their daughter before and after school. He also proved unreliable as a father by often leaving T alone with traumatic results.

The Department of Children and Families took custody of T until Mrs. W could demonstrate a stable home life and adequate childcare. Her tenacity in dealing with her misfortune pales in comparison to her devotion to T—a child very much bonded to mom. She makes the long daily public commute to see T and remains a stabilizing, reassuring and loving force in her life. Intent upon a permanent reunion, she works diligently with the service providers to reunite her family.

Mrs. W recently moved into acceptable, subsidized housing. One big hurdle remains: consistently paying for childcare. She understands the ethics and benefit of hard work, but despite all that she has achieved she needs a little extra help. $8,616 will help provide the long term stability and support to ensure a safe environment for T while she completes job training classes. She gratefully attends these classes, all the while working long hours.

Will you help to ensure T remains with the devoted, hard-working mother she adores?

Written by: D. Lewis

Writer: Debbie Lewis

St. Mary’s Women and Children’s Center, where hope has been changing lives since 1874, provides the largest population of homeless and low-income women and children in Boston with the resources to rebuild stable, healthy lives in the community.