Adela

I have an unorthodox idea. How about helping out a needy family, with the goal being to help them transition out of poverty? I know a single mother with four kids. Her name is Adela, and she works the graveyard shift as a security guard. Her hours were recently reduced from 40 to 32. She is a smart person and would like to get a better job, but she doesn’t have her high school diploma.

My church helps her out from time to time with things like bunk beds and paying for summer day camp for the kids. To really lift this family out of poverty, Adela needs a good job with benefits. But she’s overwhelmed with making ends meet, so she hasn’t been able to get her GED or find a better working situation.

If she had a few months during which she didn’t have to worry about rent and groceries, she could get the GED and avail herself of the services of Women at Work, a nonprofit based here in Pasadena, CA that specializes in career services.

A little background: I have known Adela for 15 years. I met her because her little sister was in the same 3rd grade class as my younger son. Little sister Blanca said to me one day, “Ms. Russell do you have those three? You know, breakfast, lunch and dinner?” I got to know the whole family, watched as they lost their Section 8 housing (landlord pulled out of the program), preached birth control (not too successful there), and tried to be an advocate for them whereever I could.

I’ve worked in the nonprofit world for 20 years, and there are plenty of really good people doing great work. But this is an opportunity to have a direct impact on the life of a hard-working mother who is trying her best to provide for her kids (she takes care of her ailing mother also).

My church would be happy to administer the funds, taking out nothing for overhead. Of course a line item budget would be available for all to see. It would be awesome to see Adela make progress over the next few months and share that with everyone.