Little Myla wasn’t even a year old when she experienced the warmth of community—thanks to life-changing assistance just when it was needed most.
When Myla arrived prematurely, her grandmother, Muriel, had been scraping together multiple part-time gigs to keep the mortgage paid and the family fed for nearly a year.
Still, Muriel was determined that Myla’s mother, 16-year-old Kyra, would finish high school. So, Muriel reached out to her school’s Communities in Schools representative. While they focused on helping Kyra adjust to motherhood, Muriel was referred to Crisis Assistance Ministry for help with the family’s daunting financial situation.
Medical costs and higher expenses had overwhelmed the family’s lower income. The power was disconnected. The water would soon be, too. How could they safely bring little Myla home?
That’s when you stepped in. Your support provided emergency payments to restore power and water, as well as warm coats for the winter—even a little bitty one for Myla.
But that’s not the end of the story.
Soon, Muriel found a new, full-time job. It isn’t easy catching the bus before 5 a.m., working all day cooking in a hotel kitchen, and getting home twelve hours later to start supper for the family. But, it’s progress.
The ultimate goal: economic mobility, for Muriel’s whole family, for Myla’s young mother, and especially for little Myla herself.
“It’s a miracle that you were there when we really needed someone to help us through,” says Muriel. “We’ll make it now, but we might not have without your help. Thank you.”
Editor’s Note: This story features a family served a few years ago through a collaboration with one of Crisis Assistance Ministry’s network of partner agencies across Mecklenburg County.