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Rent money, car repairs help transform future for transplant patient and her family

Dear W.C.,

I am writing to see if you can help my family. I am a 23-year-old woman still living at home with my parents. They care for me daily and never complain. I am waiting for an organ transplant and need constant medical care. I have been rushed to the hospital three times in the last four weeks.

They tell me my organ transplant will be soon, but I am not sure I will make it until then. I am not writing asking for your sympathy. What I want to ask you for is help for my parents. My mother had to give up her job two years ago to care for me when I became ill. We never dreamed my illness would lead to me needing an organ transplant.

I know the costs of caring for me has affected my parents. Their car has mechanical problems they cannot afford to fix. My dad is working long hours to try and support all of us. There are many medical bills and it’s costly to always be driving to the doctor’s office or hospital.

There have been times when we did not have much food. I overheard my parents talking yesterday about not being able to pay the rent. They try to hide their financial problems from me, but I see how they struggle. I know they do not have any savings left. I feel guilty knowing I am the cause of all these troubles.

-- Distraught daughter

Dear readers,

This was a very moving and emotional journey for all of us at The Time Is Now to Help. There are many more people on the waiting list for organs than available donations. Families struggle in hope and fear for their loved ones. This family also had to deal with the extreme stress of financial disaster.

When I went to visit this family, they confirmed I was not sick and I was asked to sanitize my hands thoroughly. Any infection would be devastating for the young woman.

The young woman was very excited to see The Time Is Now to Help was there to help her parents. When I spoke to her, she shared with me some more facts about what an organ donation would mean to her and the thousands of other people waiting for transplants.

After a few minutes of talking about her, she said she no longer wished to talk about her illness. She said her energy was very limited and she wanted to use what energy she had to go over the financial problems her parents were having. I told her I was there to help.

She had asked her parents to be there for our meeting and asked them to write down all their expenses. I found they were coming up short each month due to the overwhelming transportation costs and medical bills. I found a few areas they could modify to lower their costs. The problems with their car were a huge concern to them. They needed a reliable, safe car to get the daughter to all her medical appointments, and if they received the call, to the hospital for her organ transplant.

After looking over their vehicle, we arranged to have it repaired. When they got the car back, the parents could not believe how good it ran. They were overjoyed.

We helped this struggling family with their immediate needs of reliable transportation. We helped them with their rent. This gave them the relief they needed. The possibility of an eviction was haunting them. Now they had the peace of mind knowing they were caught up on their rent.

I also reasoned with them that a roof over their heads, food, utilities and daily necessities for their daughter’s well-being had to come first, not medical bills.

Several months later I received a call from the mother, who shared the news that her daughter had received the life-saving organ transplant. She said her daughter was doing well, but they were concerned with the continuing care she would need going forward.

They very humbly asked if they could receive some additional help with obtaining a rental closer to her health care. We provided them with the security deposit and first month’s rent. The rent was cheaper than they were paying at their previous location and would help with their budget in the future.

The daughter told me how thankful she was for all the help we provided from The Time Is Now to Help.

Once again, together we make our world a better place doing God’s good works.

Health and happiness,

God bless everyone,

                        -- W.C./Sal

Please help: Make checks payable to: The Time Is Now to Help, P.O. Box 70, Pell Lake, WI 53157. The Time Is Now to Help is a federally recognized 501(c)3 charitable organization licensed in Wisconsin and Illinois. You will receive a tax-deductible, itemized, thank-you receipt showing exactly what every penny of your donation provided for the poverty stricken.

A very special thank you to: John and Kathy Sell, Les and Pauline Malsch, Lee and Sandra Gantenbein and John and Elizabeth Park, in honor of John and Mary Smarslik’s 50th wedding anniversary; Mary Smarslik, in honor of Helen Vigansky; Robert and Mary Ann Zelenski, in memory of Bob Zivkovich; Charles and Nancy Castelein, in memory of Sarah Hayes; Mark and Natalie Reno; Kunes Country Auto Group; Walworth Fontana Rotary Foundation; Paul Ziegler/Ziegler Charitable Foundation; Dick and Jean Honeyager; Whiting Law Group; East Troy Lioness Club; Lakeland Trash Service; Dallas and Henrietta Briggs; Carolyn May Essel; Mary Ann Smith; Howard and Maureen Gleason; John and Rita Race; Thomas and Barbara Searles; Hazel Schuth; Gerald and Joyce Byers; Randall and Margaret Smith; John and Violet Hotzfeld; John and Virginia Sullivan; Glen and Joan Iversen; Marvin Hersko and Audrey Wunderlin-Hersko; W.C. Family Resource Center/Food Pantry volunteers; and all the God-loving volunteers of all our caring food pantries, all of you who support The Time Is Now to Help donation boxes and the businesses that allow our donation boxes. Anyone who would like a Time Is Now donation box in your business, please call (262) 249-7000.

You can help

What: The Time is Now can be contacted by mail or online only. Mail: P.O. Box 70, Pell Lake, WI 53157. Online: www.timeisnowtohelp.org.