The following is an actual letter received at Jewish Family Service of New Haven from a N2N Recipient....

 

When Marci came in her hopelessness was hard to break through.  Her food stamps had been cut due to an across the board cut and she recently was cut off from WIC assistance when her son turned five years old.  Her sister, who has mental illess was now living with her, and Marci was finding it hard to make ends meet.  Her own ability to work part time and attend classes so she could better herself was proving to be impossible to sustain. 

When one parent loses a job it is hard enough.  But when the remaining "breadwinner" is laid off, the result is not only devastating but frightening.  That is the situation Jewish Family Services pantry staff encountered when they met a family of 8 (including an infant) recently.   Although they were in the process of applying for food stamps and WIC, and awaiting their income tax return, they needed immediate assistance to feed their children. 
 

Crystal and her newborn arrived in New Haven with little savings and basically one suitcase, and dreams of a better future. An aunt offered Crystal a room and a promise to help with childcare if Crystal would actively seek employment and begin saving for an apartment.  Crystal knew this was her chance to start a new life in a new place.  She was able to find full time employment within the first week and loved her job and looked forward to her future.  But just when she was getting ahead, her hopes and dreams seemed to come crashing down on her. The landlord where s

It was the first time in his life that Gary found himself with a utility shutoff notice.  A single father of a small daughter, Gary prided himself in his ability to work and maintain an apartment and healthy environment for his child.

Jacob arrived at the JFS office an hour and a half (two bus transfers) after leaving his house.   If it were three weeks ago, the trip would have only taken 20 minutes in his car.  Unfortunately, due to unexpected and costly car repairs, Jacob let his car insurance lapse, and did not want to take chances driving with no insurance.  His lack of transportation during the time his car was in the shop and especially after his insurance lapsed, made jacob have to use the taxi and bus to get to and from work.  This and the car repair were unexpected expenses and

When Betty came to JFS she was troubled about keeping a roof over her head, as family illness and other personal circumstances put her behind on her rent for the first time in her life.  Not knowing where to turn, Betty had read an article in the New Haven Register about Neighbor 2 Neighbor Grants and contacted JFS to see if they could give her advice and a referral to necessary resources.

Did you know that according to End Hunger CT, in our state alone, 8.8% (122,000) of households, many of them with children, are food insecure (based on latest USDA figures).
• 45,000 (3.2%) people in Connecticut suffer from very low food insecurity at some point during the year (based on latest USDA figures)
• One out of five children, 102,000 youngsters, under the age of twelve, are hungry, or at risk of hunger.

Mr. and Mrs. X came to Jewish Family Service because they were frantic about how they were going to survive their current situation. They had recently lost their small privately owned business when a fire swept through their store. The investigation suggested arson and Mr. X was devastated wondering if someone he knew had set the fire. His depression deepened and he was hospitalized following thoughts of suicide. Mrs. X has health issues which prevent her from working and though she receives disability benefits they were too far in debt to catch up.