Sometimes God uses a Christmas Tree to give hope

I have been sick for a long time; diagnosed with Sarcodosis in 2010 they believe I actually had it since 1994. I had to cut my hours of working because it will cause a problem with my trying to get my disability.

Over the past month, my hood has had several of its young people murdered. Some of them on freezing nights. The hood gets a break from shootings and Shot Fireds during the cold season. We lost several people this year.

I also became an empty nester, my youngest left the next on Nov 30, 2017. With all this stress and sadness going on I got the blues and I was feeling hopeless.  I was losing my faith and any hope I had was gone.

Then I got a text someone donated a Christmas tree to me and it would be delivered the 18th of December. I was at work but when I got off the tree was there. I noticed it was a big tree, the tree I always wanted but couldn't afford. I also got ornaments and a gift for me. Only God knew this was the tree I always wanted. I knew then that it would be fine.

The next day my Social Worker and nurse delivered presents for my grandchildren. Today I picked up additional gifts for Christmas from Gisele Fetterman, the First Lady of Braddock. I am truly blessed.

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

Struggling to give kids a simple Christmas becomes more difficult

It's Christmas time and parents are busy shopping and making plans. Poor parents struggle with trying to get at least one of the things on their children's wish list. When they are children and even Pre teens it is easier but teenagers are extremely difficult. Poor teens are aware that their parents can't afford the items they want and most hide their disappointment and enjoy the gifts they got. Poor parents feel like failures when they can not give their children the things they want. People want to know why poor parents buy Jordan's for their children. When you constantly fail your kids because of poverty you are desperate to do whatever you want to do like buying your son the Jordans or Timberlin boots.

We have a lot to deal with our children. High murder rates and constant shootings and trauma of living in the hood. Kids here are affected by trauma due to that and add to that a loss of utilities, not having enough food, a loss of income or any other issue that might come up. The kids here don't complain but they can take only so much before they come to you and beg you to move out of the neighborhood because of more shootings or a homicide of a good friend it makes you feel hopeless. Well meaning people ask Can't you move? It's not that easy when most places that are affordable are just like your current one. All you can do is comfort them at that point.  You still feel helpless.  So at Christmas time we make more money by working overtime or taking a second job just to be able to give our teens something that they want so bad.

The cut off age for  toys and gifts from Charity is 12. I understand why because no one likes teens but poor teens wind up being forgotten except by their families.

I remember when my son wanted a pair of $175 Tims but his feet was growing so fast so he got the cheap boots. He was disappointed but now he understands that you don't drop $200 for a pair of boots for growing feet. I did get him a new game he wanted though.

Girls are a lot easier than boys because boys want a lot of expensive clothes and game system. I don't care what you heard my boys were more expensive or at least they are in the ghetto.

When you have a choice that needs to be made?

I am partially employed because I am disabled and in the appeals process for Social Security Disability.  I can only earn a little bit of money.  I work causal for the same job I worked at when my disease progressed to what it is today. I work on an as needed basis and although my job is pretty regular I often times lose money because I'm sick and must call off.  When that happens I must often choose between rent and gas.  I will always choose gas because I need electricity and water and when it is warmer the gas is only heating up the water.  I didn't owe that much and I could get help from Charity.  Well Charity is dependent on donations and because donations are down that means I did not receive help.  I then contacted my gas company and had them fax the medical form that would help keep my gas on.  She did fill it out but it was to late because they shut off my gas. 

The horrible thing about waiting for Disability is they deny everyone unless you have heart problems or are on Oxygen.  I was first turned down in 2010 when it was discovered that I had Sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease that caused me to have Splenic Cancer.  I lost my spleen on September 24, 2010. That is how they diagnosed my condition. They denied me and I appealed.  I lost my case and I went back to work.  I was fine for a few years although I still suffered from nausea and pain.  I was OK and was able to hold down a job for three years.

On March 7,2015 I passed out at work and my co worker had to call an ambulance.  It was then that I found out I had something wrong with my heart, and kidneys.  They also discovered that my immune system was failing.  I spent months going from specialist to specialist. I had to many people on my immune system with my kids and grandchildren, 7 Co Workers, and 8 Consumers in small homes. I lived with my children and grandchildren in a small house and I worked in a house with 7 Co Workers and 8 Consumers in tight quarters.  I put in my 2 weeks notice on 7/10/15 and my last day was July 24, 2015.  I never wanted to quit but I felt I had no choice.

I was given Unemployment but when that ran out I had no income.  My best friend helped me make ends meet and paid all but my rent. I did not have an income from Feb15 until June when I got a check for $60.  I have been working every sense when I could but still became homeless.  I have spoken out about that before.


Now I have a decent place to live but when I get sick and miss work I am forced to make a decision no one would ever want to make. I had to chose between gas or rent.  Now I am waiting on the Gas Company to work with me because it is cold in the house.  My Social worker and Nurse was there the day the gas got cut off and they called CYF who because the house had one space heater in my granddaughter's room that they found the conditions to be safe.  I have figured out to make heat until CRISIS opens up on November 1, 2017 and working with the gas company to get it on faster than that.  I am not able to work full time as I can barely walk now and have Congestive Heart Failure along with Liver Disease.


Social Security is something you pay into every pay day and for them to make you go through hoops trying to get something you paid into makes me sick.  My hearing is on November 21, 2017 in Pittsburgh PA and I pray it comes through for me because I do not know what I will do.

Hunger in America. The Truth

"We don't have hunger in the streets." A FB comment read. She is correct but we do have hunger. We tend to hide it or we keep it in the community.

Food Insecure household, hungry, P O so poor you can't afford the other O and R and any other name you call not having food nor the means to get food. It happens a lot in poor families even households that get food stamps go hungry the last week of the month. The food stamps usually only last three weeks a month and not the whole month. Most people work to pay the bills but because they work the food stamps are only about $200 because they use gross and not net the income is much smaller than what they credit you with. Often times the family needs to decide what bills can get paid using basic first.  If food is chosen you may lose an Utility. It's hard to make a dollar out of 15 cent.

Thanks to certain groups that always assume your hungry because your kids have Jordan's never mind they were donated and you found it. Most poor people are not stupid they don't buy Jordan's they buy food.

They go to the food bank but they cannot help you through a long term food emergency. The caseworkers losebl or never sent you a notice you missed, this leads to a three week hunger.

Most poor people do not spend their food stamps on expensive food because they know better.  We have to get as much food as possible with the amount your given.

Hunger has a stigma that brings with it a sense of shame sort of like being homeless. I have been hungry many times for a variety of reasons.

Yes Virginia hunger exsists in America.

Research into Poverty and Eliminating Poverty

A big topic of the last campaign was elimating income inequality ( a feel good term replacing Poverty). You cannot get rid of poverty its not going anywhere. Not one Country on Earth has gotten rid of poverty no matter how hard they try. Its not gonna happen because life isn't fair some people have money and some people don't. Poor people are not sad people with hard lives. We are not pitiful creatures who must be saved. We do not want the Government to take care of us, we want jobs to take care of ourselves.

I am researching Poverty and the effects of poverty. Most of what I found were incomplete because it followed children. The adults weren't separated in groups such as Urban Poor or Rural Poor. How does the Red Neck and the Hood Rat differ? They don't follow the children tested to see if most kids who lived in poverty got out and what percentage stayed.

The study I read talk about lower cognitive skills and education. The rates of Learning Disabilities were increased in children born into poverty. Yet they couldn't tell you why. To bad none of them thought to ask the parents of the children if they knew why.  Poverty a produces Food Emergencies and when you are hungry you can't learn. Yes the kids have free lunch and for the children in grades K through 8 have breakfast and they help but the children know they may not have dinner unless their parents could get to a food bank or help from other poor people. Poor children worry about financial problems of the household because besides hunger utilities are often off. The electricity being off means they must get dressed in the dark. The water being off means they must get water (mainly older kids) they must carry heavy jugs from their friends or family until the bills can be paid and services restored. Having Gas off in the winter means they are cold even with electric heat its cold. Stressed children have difficulty learning.

The problem no one wants to talk about is the public schools that serve poor kids.  Some teachers hate poor children they may be dirty, hungry, and they never have school supplies. The teacher may wish she had students who didn't have so many problems. Maybe they don't want to waste their times on "dumb" children. Most teachers are frustrated because they know the parents can't afford things like pencils and the School Board will not purchase pencils. This leaves the teacher themselves to purchase teachers and papers. This is beginning to change and both Churches and Non Profits are having book bag give aways. Its a wonderful thing for children and their parents. Children are embarrassed when they don't have money.

The requirement of Uniforms is another problem because of the expense. Uniforms should never be required at any public school because parents can't afford them. Schools that require them have truency problems. This ends up with the parents ending up in jail. The kids miss because the one uniform ends up dirty. Kids skip because no one wants to be laughed at.

When you have issues like this your study on cognitive abilities make sense. Its the Poverty issues stupid to quote Bill Clinton.

Those that think churches should lose tax exemption should try living in the hood

I have heard a lot of people who want the church to lose their tax exempt status.  These folks never lived in the Hood, nor had to ever depend on Charity.  The majority of help in the ghettos come from the Salvation Army and St. Vincent's De Paul.  Both are Religious institutions.

Small churches, like City Reach, have outreaches with the poor.  They reach out to Convicted Felons,  people who are addicted to drugs, people trying to leave the Street gangs.  They do so out of love for their fellow human beings.

Last year when I went through issues with my health and losing my home the church women helped me from Pastor Melissa and Miss Jeanne who helped me clean my house to Miss Pam who took me to purchase my furniture at Goodwill. This is only some of the help I received.

Food Banks, clothing drives, Soup kitchens, and toy drives are mostly done by Christian churches.

There are no Grocery stores in my neighborhood.  We have a butcher shop that sells food that is not edible. We do not have a bank either.  The Farmers market comes on Saturday but a lot of people have to work.

Ask a former addict trying to stay clean off of Crack or heroin that feel so unlovable what Real Christian love is? Ask someone who left the gang but continue to live the Thug lifestyle, to hear positive things about you.  Instead of hearing negative things as they tell you about the Lord they serve.

City Reach Braddock offers a Friday meal with their service. A lot of Homeless people eat there.

So my question to people who do not want the Church to be tax exempt what are you doing for the poor.  The United Way doesn't help the poor the Salvation Army does.