Giving Fund supports Danbury area families – Danbury News Times

DANBURY — Two days before Christmas, 62-year-old Mary fell.

And fell again.

She shouted, hoping her neighbors would hear her, but no one did. She eventually managed to crawl to the phone and call for help.

Mary lives alone and needs a medical alert button, but on her small salary that barely pays for her rent, utilities and car expenses, she cannot afford one.

Already, Mary struggles every day to work due to severe back issues and congestive heart failure. But she must keep her job to maintain her living situation until she is approved to go into senior housing.

Mary is among the people the United Way of Western Connecticut is hoping to help this holiday season with its annual giving fund.

A gift of $500 would pay for one year of service for Mary’s medical alert button.

The News-Times has partnered with United Way of Western Connecticut each holiday season since 2011 to help families and individuals like Mary. Since then, The Giving Fund has raised more than $500,000 for families in need.

For the past six weeks, the newspaper has shared several cases this holiday season of local residents or families — whose names have been changed to protect their privacy — that readers can assist by donating.

“Helping our neighbors is not only the right thing to do, it’s essential to a vital community,” said Kim Morgan, CEO of United Way of Western Connecticut. “A flourishing community starts with financially stable residents who support local businesses and make our community strong. The Giving Fund stabilizes local families and individuals and gives them real relief that has a tremendous impact on their lives.”

Donations can be given at https://www.uwwesternct.org/thegivingfund. Checks can also be mailed to The Giving Fund, P.O. Box number 555, Danbury, CT 06813.

This week’s cases are:

Case #164: Christina faced tragedy from a young age when her parents died and she was abused. Now in her late 70s, she has experienced a particularly difficult past couple of years. Since 2017, Christina has been diagnosed with uterine cancer, breast cancer, experienced a heart attack and has been struggling to manage her diabetes. She is also trying to support her daughter who was in a very bad car accident. A gift of $750 would help Christina with car repairs so she can continue to go to her medical appointments and be involved in the community.

Case #165: Brooke works full-time as a social worker, but finds herself using some of the services, such as local food pantries, that she refers her clients to just to provide for her children. The 34-year-old single mother of two lives in Danbury and gave birth to her youngest baby without the help of her ex-husband due to domestic violence. She has been behind on her rent, car taxes, car payments, medical bills, child care expenses and other bills for the last two months. Since she was not able to take much time off from work after giving birth, she has also been battling post-partum health issues. A gift of $1,500 would help Brooke to catch up on her rent and bills, and assist with child care expenses.

Case #166: Bobby used to work 60 hours a week on average between her two jobs. But she was forced to stop working two months ago when the side effects from the treatment for her pancreatic cancer became too severe. Bobby, who is in her mid-50s, was diagnosed with the cancer in early 2019 and underwent several treatments, including chemotherapy. The side effects got so bad that she went into anaphylactic shock and doctors needed to lessen treatment. Now, her living situation is changing and she must cover a great portion of her rent. A gift of $1,300 would help Bobby pay a portion of her rent and repair her car so she can travel to and from doctor’s appointments and focus more on her self-care.

Case #167 is Mary, who is mentioned above.

Case #168: Dorothy, a longtime Denver school teacher, moved back to Connecticut after her husband died so she could be closer to family and help care for her elderly mother, who could no longer live alone. Dorothy’s husband was self-employed and made a major part of the family income. When he died, Dorothy also lost her health insurance. Working full-time, Dorothy can barely cover basic household expenses and health insurance. Her mother’s social security check helps to cover the cost of feeding a family of four. Because her twin daughters were her late husband’s step-children, they receive no benefits. A gift of $1,500 would provide this family with a good start to a new year.