Tina is a sunny and shy 17-year-old who loves learning and hates to ever miss a day of school.  But her painful and serious degenerative muscle condition (muscular dystrophy) challenges her and her single mother every day.  Tina moves about by wheelchair and is aided in her breathing by an oxygen tube by day and a ventilator mask when she sleeps.  Because her mother can no longer carry her upstairs,  Tina sleeps on a mattress on the floor in their small living room.  She reads, sleeps and does her homework there.  When her fun-loving cousins come to visit, they play, watch TV and tell stories on Tina’s bed on the living room floor.

A high school junior, Tina shares the floor mattress with her mother so Mom can help with her immediate needs during the night.  When her brother, who is in the military, comes home to visit with his friends, there is nowhere for Christina to have space of her own.

These days – especially after the two unprecedented February blizzards on the east coast – the family’s  small rural farmhouse is especially cold and cramped.  It’s so cold that Tina can’t shake her cold and flu symptoms on top of the disabilities caused by her muscular dystrophy.

To make matters worse, when the news came that Mom had lost her contract raising chickens for a poultry producer, Mom knew that the farm’s bills would quickly pile up.  Propane, electric, telephone, gas for the car…with no income and Tina’s health and medications at the top of the list, Mom was in despair.

When ASRL asked, “What do you need?”, Mom’s answer was, “Please pay our electric bill, help us with small repairs to the chicken barn and keep the house warm for Christina.  Perhaps you can even help me with my dream that Tina can have a bedroom on the first floor of her own.”  In 24 hours, ASRL had paid the overdue propane and electric bills and had ordered a new tank of propane for the farm.  ASRL raised funds to provide gas cards to ensure that Tina could get to the hospital and helped pay for car repairs.

To assist them in the long term, ASRL is reaching out to find a group to repair the home and barn  – and perhaps even build a private bedroom and bath for Tina on the first floor.  ASRL is supporting Mom to help her re-engage her chicken producing contract so the family has a steady source of income.

Still, until the house is repaired the family is struggling with its old and drafty farmhouse and they must keep Tina warm and snug while she sleeps on the floor.  We welcome your contributions when compassion can’t wait.

His words were:

“We are asking for help in desperation to save our daughter’s life, and we are running out of time. Our beautiful 22 year old daughter, a college student, big sister to four younger siblings, and loving girlfriend, is dying, and we have nowhere else to turn.”

Twenty-two year old C. and her family have faced the unimaginable.  She was diagnosed with cancer at the age of five and has had relapses and treatments ever since.  Now, she is dying from an inoperable tumor in her mouth.  It is blocking her airway, and C. is no longer able to take solid food; she is literally choking on the tumor. Because C. began to have organ failure from chemotherapy, the doctors have switched to radiation to shrink the tumor. Sadly, the cancer has spread to her jaw and possibly to her tongue.

To make matters worse, C.’s father lost his job in January when his company moved to South America. The family has used up all its savings. Medicaid has refused payment for pet scans in the past, and last week, an oral surgeon refused surgery because Medicaid would not pay him enough. The family has no insurance for C. and is “left with no hope.”  They are now $6,500 behind on their mortgage payments and find themselves “underwater,” owing more than the home is now worth after it was bought at the market’s height.

What can ASRL can do with a situation this sad, this dark, and according to the family, this hopeless?

ASRL is relieving this family’s financial burden so that they can be with their dying daughter. First, ASRL is helping to rescue the home from foreclosure.  ASRL staff are negotiating with the family’s loan company to forbear on the mortgage and restructure its payments.  Second, ASRL is determining other expenses the family needs covered and is paying these everyday needs billsto give the family “breathing room” during C.’s last days.  While, tragically, this tight-knit and loving family may lose their precious daughter, ASRL wants to ensure they are at her side…and have a home to return to.  You can help us soften their tragedy by making a contribution.