I am a long time listener but a first time visitor to the forums. I wanted to share the story of my sister with all of you here because I know that even if you can't help that you would understand...
This isn’t the story of someone who is suffering from a debilitating illness or the victim of a horrific crime. I am not imploring you to save the whales or cure cancer. This is the story of an ordinary person, struggling and sad, that needs a hand up and a reminder that there is still goodness left in this world.
I am writing this page for my older sister. She has had a difficult and traumatic life. We grew up in perpetual poverty and there were many times when we struggled just to eat, to survive. The child of a single mom and an emotionally abusive mentally ill father our lives were often filled with chaos. My sister was the victim of sexual abuse countless times as a child from the age of 8 and unable to cope she turned early on to drugs and delinquency. Cocaine and meth were her frequent drugs of choice. She dropped out of high school and by 16 she was pregnant and alone.
Now usually the story would stop there; a sad not so special statistic born of pervasive poverty and abuse. But it doesn’t. Somehow against all odds she overcame her circumstance. She quit using. She gave birth to her son and actually took care of him, was devoted to him even. She got her GED and then remarkably went to college and got a degree in psychology intent on helping others. She worked in the jobs nobody else wanted. The hard ones. The ones where you are confronted with teenagers so out of control that even the juvenile justice system had given up on them. She cares deeply and is dedicated to helping misguided youth who, like her, suffer from abuse and addiction. She has worked tirelessly in social services her whole life and she is amazing at what she does. She is devoted and kids connect with her because they know that she feels them because she was them.
So what is the point of all of this you might ask? Years of meth abuse left her teeth vulnerable and weak and over the years she has had to have several teeth pulled. It is a source of shame and sorrow for her. She is scared to smile and very self-conscious. On a recent visit to the dentist she learned that her teeth are slowly receding into her gums due to the voids left by the missing teeth. She needs oral surgery or braces first to open the spacing and then she needs several implants. She has dental insurance but the overall cost of the dental work will far exceed the maximum payout of $1000.
You may be aware that social service jobs in general don’t pay very well. She has no outside support system of family or savings to fall back on. There is zero hope that she can somehow get this work done. She has no where to turn. She is sad and depressed and I want nothing more than to somehow fix it all for her. She deserves it. I have tried to find someone who would do the work at a reduced cost with no luck. I have thought long and hard about how to make this happen. And all I am left with is this. So I turn to you dear internet. In this grand den of debauchery and cat videos it is my mad hope that I can somehow find her answers and help her.
So even if it is just a dollar or two if you could donate to make my sister smile again it would be a beautiful thing
Or if you can't maybe you could share it somewhere and someone else can. I haven't told her yet that I am even trying this. I can hear her already though, insisting that it would never work, and likely she is right but I figure it is worth a shot
The Go Fund Me page I have set up is here:
http://www.gofundme.com/xv9fpc?utm_medium=wdgt