Like so many families that come to COTS, Tom, Mary and seven year old twins Amy and Jo, needed a lot of help. Their lives had been devastated by the loss of Tom’s job, and the subsequent loss of their home.
We helped them when their van broke down, so Tom could look for a new job.
Our Kids First program provided the twins new school clothes, backpacks and school supplies. COTS helped Amy and Jo feel great about their first day at school.
Our mandatory savings program helped Mary and Tom save enough for their rent through the first month, deposits on their utilities, Mary’s care payment, Tom’s student loan, and gas for the cars and food for the first month. We taught them how to make budgets that work and how to manage their money.
Our workshops helped Mary come to terms with abuse she’d suffered as a little girl. For the first time in her life she really opened up and talked about it, and her bad dreams about it have stopped.
Now the family has their own home again, their bills are getting paid and they are starting to pay off their debts. Mary is succeeding in a new telemarketing job and they just saved $1,500 to pay for a car repair. Their daughters’ birthdays are coming up and for the first time in a long time they will be able to purchase gifts for their children and have special birthday celebrations for them.