I serve because I've been truly blessed. I have a wonderful husband, two healthy, grown adult daughters and a beautiful home in SW Florida, but our lives have not been easy.
In our 20's my husband and I thought we had it all, a nice home, a new car and 2 children who were our entire world. We were able to provide the girls with private schools, family vacations and trips to Disney World every year. We were afforded a good life, compared to most.
Then it happened. Nearly 10 years ago a friend who fell down on his luck, found himself without a job, a home and health coverage. So we took him in and he became part of our family.
During that time, I suffered a series of injuries that required extensive spinal surgeries and caused permanent physical disability. So needless to say, I was no longer able to work and help support our original and then extended family.
Our friend had undiagnosed mental health issues when he moved in, that after diagnoses required constant treatment and medications. With my spinal issues all responsibility fell on the shoulders of my husband. In 2007 we lost everything and I mean everything, our savings, our house and our car. They were gone.
We didn't know where we were going to get food to get through each the week, or how we would pay to heat our home in the cold Michigan winter. But we pulled together and somehow we did it. We had a meager savings to fall back on in an IRA and when everything fell apart in 2008, we lost that too.
When President Obama threw in his hat to run for President in 2008 - "Hope and Change" was exactly what we needed of to survive. So we did what we could, I made phone calls from home to get our friends out to vote and sent emails to everyone in my mailbox. We were never so relieved by the outcome of a Presidential Election, just knowing we had "Hope & Change" on the way!
We got our Hope! And... We got or Change!
During the 2012 Election I took a lead position as a fall fellow. I put in long, never ending hours and did everything I could to make sure the President, who I was so grateful for, would be re-elected. I went to bed at night exhausted and in pain, and woke up every morning exhausted and in pain... But that didn't matter to me. I spent long days making phone calls, organizing phone banks, canvasses and organizing volunteers. With the help of a nice young man from Germany who came to SW Florida to be a fall fellow, I was able to get out and canvass neighborhoods, which is something I didn't think was a possibility for me. Putting faces to the voices on those phone calls, was an incredible experience. And, when someone told me "they were no better off than they were 4 years ago," I shared my story making them take a better look at their own situation and most realized they were better off.
During my work with OFA, I found there are so many people in the same position that I was in just a few short years ago (some far worse). I didn't know where to turn for help, as I'm sure many don't. So... I've decided that I'm dedicating my life to helping others by serving. There are so many people and families who are in great need. If I can help just one person, all of my efforts have been worth while.
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