Molly called Bridges of Hope earlier this year, in tears. She has just given birth the week before to her third precious child and explained that her husband, James, had been diagnosed with cancer early in her pregnancy. James was about to start his second round of chemo and they knew from experience this would leave him unable to work for a number of weeks, at least.
Molly would be going back to her job after her maternity leave but she and James were worried about how they would pay the mortgage and still provide for their three beautiful children in the meantime. James’ time off from work during the first round of chemo had depleted the family’s savings.
Erica, a Resource Specialist at Bridges of Hope, got to work right away suggesting two helpful resources. She helped Molly fill out applications for two programs: Cradle of Hope and Pay It Forward. Cradle of Hope is a Twin Cities-based agency that assists pregnant mothers or parents of children up to 3 months old when the pregnancy or birth is causing a crisis. Pay It Forward is a fund through the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation that can financially assist those who are currently going through chemotherapy.
Molly & James didn’t have to wait long to find out that each organization approved one month of mortgage assistance for their family which would help stretch their budget until Molly was back to work.
Molly called Erica when she received the news and said, “Thank you Erica! We are so relieved to know that we can provide for Sammy, John, and Lexi while James is getting healthy.”
We feel so blessed when we hear back from families and things are getting better! We talk to families like Molly & James’ every day. As a single-point-of-entry in the community, Bridges is able to connect families with the help they need quickly & efficiently. We work closely with area churches, other nonprofit organizations & the community as a whole to increase effectiveness and decrease duplication.
If you or anyone you know can benefit from Bridges of Hope’s services, please call us at 218-825-7682. Thank you for helping us build Bridges.