We helped our 11th and 12th families over the past couple of weeks at The Nikolas Foundation.
First was a family whose baby Axel was having complications in utero. Mom was bed ridden and had to go to the hospital every day for ultrasounds to monitor the baby. At week 24 Mom knew something was wrong so went to the ER. Mom was told that the only way to save the baby was to deliver the baby but the Doctors stated that Axel’s chances were very slim. He was delivered with a host of challenges with his lungs, his heart and a brain bleed. According to Mom’s story while doing a procedure the Doctors felt that Axel had passed, but when Mom and Dad came into the room he heart began beating again and Mom said it was the power of prayer.
Axel has been in the hospital since his birth on October 25. Like many families, Dad lost his job and the couple now lives on unemployment. Because there were a number of bills and rent, we did something out of the ordinary and sent a check to Mom to cover as many bills as possible. We hope the ability to reduce the stress of paying bills helped in some small way.
The most recent family helped had a son named Gentry. When we received the request for help, Gentry had been in the hospital for 111 days. Mom has only been able to work 28 hours a week and her husband has a work related injury that has kept him from earning a living. Mom has 3 teenagers at home as well, one with special needs, that require additional time.
She had a list of bills that had not been paid or they were paying minimums just to keep current. We asked what the most pressing bill was and she stated “rent”. We paid their rent for the month of April and it will allow them to pay down some of their other bills with the money left over. We pray that Gentry will continue to heal and be home soon and that our help lessened their burden.
Once again, thank you to all who have donated. With the current pandemic our fundraising has been at a standstill but we will continue to work with families as long as we have money to spend.
Be safe all.