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Human Interest Story
 

A Gift of Warmth. . .

On a freezing January night, an old, battered car pulled up by the handicap ramp in front of The Salvation Army. A woman, got out of the driver’s seat, opened the trunk of her car and pulled out a wheelchair. After helping her husband into the chair, she started up the ramp where they were met by a member of The Salvation Army staff who helped bring her husband into the gymnasium which was serving as a temporary emergency shelter to provide a warm and safe place for people who usually lived on the street.Watching this scene unfold, a Salvation Army officer stopped the woman to

ask why she was leaving her husband in the temporary shelter. Ann said, “My husband is disabled and can’t work. I work the midnight shift and make what money I can, but it isn’t enough. At night we cut the heat back to help keep our bill down, but it is too cold to do that now and leave my husband alone all night. I don’t know what would happen to him.” She explained that she had read about the “Code Purple” cold weather shelter, so she brought him here where he would be safe and warm and with people who cared. When her shift at work ended the next morning, she would come back for her husband and take him home.
During a time of need, Ann reached out for help, and found people who cared. Ann and her husband were not turned away. Many of our neighbors in Delaware are struggling to just pay for the bare necessities – heat, food, rent. Together we can continue to make it possible for people like Ann and her husband to stay warm and safe. Thank you for all that you do to support our mission to help others.

 

Angels to the Rescue

Nancy is a single mom, who has four children, all under the age of 12. She is a practical nurse who waits each week to be assigned a homebound patient. Her income is not steady and child support checks have not yet arrived. Nancy came to The Salvation Army to apply for holiday assistance. She just wanted to be able to give her children something on Christmas morning. The case worker looked at Nancy’s bills. She had cut-off notices from the electric company and an eviction notice from her landlord. The worker gave Nancy a number to call to make an appointment for emergency assistance, and then,

without telling Nancy, she added her family to the “Angel Tree” list for extra food, household items, clothes and other gifts. Nancy was helped with her bills that week through our Family Services Office which enabled her to manage expenses until her job was more steady and the child support checks arrived. And on a rainy afternoon, just before Christmas Eve, Salvation Army officers arrived at Nancy’s with food, gifts and more. Thank you for sharing and caring enough to help us bring the joy of the season to Nancy and her children, as well as the resources to help her through difficult times.
 

Copyright © 2004 The Salvation Army. All rights reserved. Revised.
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