Single mother of two tries to overcome setbacks

Nov. 29—LIMA — A Lima woman trying to give her two young sons a merry Christmas finds it a challenge this year.

Sarah, 26, a single mother, was left without a job after temporary transportation services provided by the Allen County Job and Family Services Agency expired earlier this year. Sarah, who had never had a driving licence, was forced to give up driving lessons due to the cost when she could no longer commute to and from her previous job. Without reliable transportation, driver training seemed like an unnecessary expense at the time.

As the holidays approach, a week before Thanksgiving, the family’s apartment has a modest, illuminated tree installed, but there are currently no gifts underneath it. Sarah hopes that can change.

Sarah and her children live in a government-subsidized housing complex in northern Lima. Last year she worked at a McDonald’s restaurant, but, unfortunately, it was not a restaurant that is within walking distance of her home. Instead, it was a site on Harding Highway, a few miles away. The assistance with transportation that Sarah once received became rare after her mother began working full time.

Not having a job made Sarah’s life difficult, but her difficulties really began when her eldest son’s father died nearly four years ago in what law enforcement classified as a murder/suicide.

“We’ll never know what really happened because two of the three people involved have already left,” Sarah said.

Sarah and her son’s father lived together for a time, but eventually separated “when he laid hands on me” due to a domestic dispute. She lived in a women’s shelter for several months and then lived with her mother for a while. She has been living alone for two years now, working odd jobs babysitting and occasionally helping her mother clean houses to earn money. She would like to have a more regular income—anything from retail to fast food to a factory job would do—but caring for her two-year-old son, Seth, is currently a full-time job, and daycare is prohibitively expensive. Her oldest son, Joseph, goes to daycare every day, and transportation is provided by the Western Ohio Community Action Partnership (WOCAP).

“I’ve had a hard time this year,” Sarah admits. “It was difficult to make the children happy. I mean, overall they’re pretty happy, but it hurts them when they see other kids have things they don’t have. It would mean a lot to them if we could get some help from the community.”

Joseph wears size 6 shirts, size 5 pants, and size 1 shoes. Seth is 3/4T, wears shirts and pants, and wears size 10 children’s shoes. Joseph loves Monsters, Inc., trucks, and dinosaurs, and Seth loves balls, bears, and SpongeBob SquarePants. Both boys love books and Sarah loves to read to them.

Sarah herself could use a size 9-10 wide winter boot, and she always needs household items like pots, pans, pillows, silverware and cleaning supplies.

ACCEPT THE STOCKING

The Adopt a Stocking Fund helps families during the holiday season. Monetary donations can be made online at Give.salvationarmy.org/stocking or through Adopt A Stocking; c/o Salvation Army; PO Box 234, Lima, OH 45801. All material donations for a specific family should be left to The Salvation Army, 614 E. Market St., Lima, and include a copy of the article or the date the article appeared in The Salvation Army magazine. Lima News. See past stories at LimaOhio.com/tag/stocking.

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