文章基本信息

标题：Single mom strives to care for others
作者：Becca Blond
期刊名称：Gazette, The (Colorado Springs)
出版年度：2000
卷号：Dec 5, 2000
出版社：Colorado Springs Gazette

Single mom strives to care for others

Becca Blond

Balancing motherhood with being the sole family provider is never easy.

Add caring for a sick mother into the equation, and it gets harder.

But caring is what Vanessa is all about. Not only is she taking care of her sick mother, who has been diagnosed with cancer, and her two young children, but she also wants to become a certified nurse's aide so she can look after others.

Vanessa says she wants to "have a good job and better (myself) for my kids."

It's not easy, though. Vanessa has struggled since moving to Colorado Springs in 1995, going through a period of homelessness. She said she had to quit her previous job because she was not being paid for all the hours she was working.

She has since taken seasonal work at an area department store but doesn't work enough hours and has yet to see her first paycheck.

"I haven't been able to provide enough for my family," she said. "It is just seasonal work, but I had to get something because I haven't even paid my rent this month."

Paying rent is essential, but so is bringing a smile to her children's faces on Christmas morning. Right now she has no money to buy presents or a tree.

So Vanessa has turned to the Pikes Peak Community Action Agency, one of the 11 organizations that benefit from The Gazette-El Pomar Empty Stocking Fund, for help with Christmas gifts, meals and housing assistance.

In addition, the fund will help Vanessa get on her way to earning her CNA certification with purchase of uniforms, class fees and transportation.

Vanessa hopes to start the certification classes in January.

"It's the kind of work I want to do," Vanessa said.

She said caring for her mother has cemented that belief.

"When faced with adversity, Vanessa strives harder to pull herself up by the bootstraps. ... Vanessa, with a little support, will go far in her life," said Martha Hazard-Small, Vanessa's counselor at the Pikes Peak Community Action Agency.