CCJ's Presents Nickle & Dimed 2/29-3/3

Contact
Open Door Director
Diane Iverson
928-776-0353
directoropendoor@gmail.com

A little girl, about 10 years old, recently came to Open Door with her little brother and a bag of coins. She said she had been collecting money because she wanted to help needy people. The grandparents, parents and children in her family live together in one small house, and they had been helped with Open Door food and a CCJ utility voucher a year earlier.

One young boy who had just been given his second grade Fair Start backpack filled with school supplies, excitedly called out to his mom, “Look! It has everything I need. This is better than Christmas!”

Another client came in with her daughter and granddaughter. In all, three adults and three children were living in a trailer in Prescott Valley. A husband suddenly disappeared after 30 years of marriage, taking the new mortgage equity loan with him, and leaving the family with a double mortgage. He had been bringing in enough to pay for all their bills. His wife had left her job due to health problems the week before he left. One adult of 19 had a part-time minimum wage position, and the other adults all scrambled to get full-time work, but they couldn’t pay their electric bill, and the utility company was about to shut them off. We helped them keep the lights and heat on for another month, while they worked to get new sources of income. The grandmother said of Open Door, “This place is a life-line. It is a worthy cause and a huge help to the community.”

One single father in his 40s became homeless after his wife and the mother of his two preschool children suddenly left, draining the bank account. He came to Prescott and to Open Door in December when his car broke down here. He and the children had been living in their car. We helped him get a hotel room for a week. During that time, he and the children came to Open Door for meals and warm clothing. He was able to obtain employment and now the girls are in school again, and taking free music lessons. “Things have gotten a lot better for me,” he said. “The way I got helped the most was the words of encouragement and hope the Open Door voucher-writer used when she spoke to me.

A woman born in Guatemala married an American and went to California; her husband died soon after her first child was born. She moved to Prescott 14 years ago, but was self-sufficient until a year ago, when she came to Open Door for help because she lost her job. She then had to have gall bladder surgery, was unable to work, and became homeless. Open Door helped her and her children get a month’s shelter at a hotel. She now has a job at the motel and she lives on the premises with her three children, now 16, 14 and 7. “Open Door still helps with food,” she said, “but we are much better off than we were.”

A young man who joined our kitchen mentoring program was a hard worker who wanted to improve his life. He learned skills here that helped him secure a job, and he is now working full time.

A homeless man struggling with mental health issues comes to Open Door to get a hug and a cup of coffee. He says it is his “one safe place, and it has the best food in town.”

A woman was severely abused when she was a child. She has a case worker at the local county mental health clinic, and she receives $600 a month in disability payments from the federal government. However, her rent is $500 a month. She comes to Open Door almost every week to eat and get a food box. “Everyone here is very kind,” she said.