Meet Liz, a single mom who struggles to feed her family

Meet Liz, a single mom who struggles to feed her family
January 1, 2010 3foldcomm

I met “Liz” by chance. I had planned to slip Amy, our CalFresh Outreach assistant, a note about a meeting. Instead I inadvertently interrupted her interview with Liz as she tried to figure out what had happened to Liz’s CalFresh application. Liz was clearly nervous, concerned about getting back in time to pick up her sons at school. She confessed that she had never dreamed she would still be unemployed after losing her job 10 months ago. She had always worked, and even as a single mom, she had always made enough to provide for herself and her boys. But today, at this time, she was worried.  She was worried about getting food for the coming week, never mind the upcoming holidays. With that, her eyes welled up and both Amy and I could see the months of anxiety begin to spill out. Thanks to a very thoughtful donor, there was a $25 Safeway gift card in my desk drawer. Within minutes it was in Liz’s hands where it could ease just a little of the anxiety.