Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Past continues to haunt struggling young family
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When Karen -- who asked that her real name not be used for this story -- was 19, she stole her mother's checkbook. With a newborn to support, "I was too ashamed to ask for money. I wanted everyone to think we were making it on our own," she said.
Karen was too scared to tell her mother what she had done, and by the time her mother reported the crime to the police, it was too late. She was convicted of forgery and uttering, a crime related to counterfeiting, both felonies.
Her husband, Bob, also has been in trouble with the law and served five years in prison, she said.
Now both 30, Karen and Bob understand that they made mistakes. They say they have accepted responsibility for what they have done, paid their debts to society and now would like to move on.
But their pasts continue to haunt them.
In 2008, Karen lost her job when the business she worked for folded.
"I've been looking for work for a year," she said, but with no luck. When she fills out a job application and discloses her felony conviction, "people look at me like I'm a thief. But I'm not that person any more."
With the loss of Karen's job, the family became homeless, though the couple always made sure their child had a place to stay with relatives. Sometimes, Karen said, she and Bob had to sleep in his truck.
The couple moved into an old farm house that rents for $300 a month. Their landlord lets Bob do odd jobs, Karen said, but with no other money coming in, aside from $200 a month in food stamps, they depend on their relatives for support.
"He's been working with us," Karen said about the landlord. "He knows what we're going through."
These days, they have pinned their hopes on Bob's Social Security disability application being approved. Injuries from an old accident have become worse, Karen said, making it hard for Bob to sit or stand for long periods of time.
Although he'd rather work, the disability payments will be enough for him to take care of his family.
"We should be able to pay our bills and have some left over," Karen said.
To come up with the first month's rent, the couple applied to a charity in their hometown, which was able to give them part of it before referring them to Roanoke Area Ministries for the rest.
RAM's Emergency Financial Assistance Program was set up not to meet the ongoing needs of the poor but to help people such as Bob and Karen, who just need a one-time boost to get back on their feet. The program is supported by The Roanoke Times' Good Neighbors Fund.
RAM was able to make up the difference for the rent payment as well as provide the couple with vouchers for gasoline so that Bob could get to his medical appointments. He is being treated as a charity case at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville.
"I love Jo-Anne," Karen said about RAM's administrative assistant, Jo-Anne Woody. "She was a godsend. She helped us out on the spot."
As for the future, Bob and Karen have applied to a fuel-assistance program to get them through the winter, they said.
But for now, "we just take things one day at a time."
