Sunday, January 01, 2006
Good morning and Happy New Year. It's day 4 already and we go home tomorrow morning!
This has been an experience that has been beyond anything I could have imagined.
We have talked to people who have lost everything, and still can smile and say that they are blessed.
Thursday Ron, Mike and Andreas were working an area doing reassessments--checking with homeowners to be sure that their needs were being met. They talked to a young man who had worked the casinos, and had lost his job as a result of the hurricane. That meant that he also had lost his health insurance. He was being treated for several medical conditions, an d now has no insurance to pay for meds. The damage to his house was minimal, but he was getting low on meds. The guys gave him some ideas about how he could get assistance (free clinic and applying for Medicaid) but he did not seem very interested.
Ron particularly was disturbed by the young mans story. Friday night when we were meeting and talking about ways to spend the money we collected , he asked if it would be appropriate to give this young man money to pay for a monthhs worth 0f meds. Saturday morning, we talked with Irene, who agreed that it would be a good use of some of the money.
Ron and I went back to see the young man. He told us that he HAD gone to the free clinic and had received 2 weeks worth of meds. He had also attempted to apply for Medicaid, but the office had closed early for the holiday weekend. I talked with him about his meds and got a list of the 3 medicines he was taking. He did have refills and used the pharmacy at the local Winn-Dixie to get his meds. Ron and I then went to the pharmacy and got prices for 30 days of his meds ($340). We then got gift cards from the store and took them back to him. He was very grateful, and Ron said got a bit teary. Ron asked him to promise to help someone in need when he gets back on his feet, which he promised to do.
This is just one example of how we have been able to help people who have lost much. We learned 2 things from this experience--that people DO hear what you are saying ( he followed up with both of their suggestions) and that we CAN make an impact on peoples lives in our own small ways.
Happy New year and we will see you soon.
God Bless.
Stephanie
This has been an experience that has been beyond anything I could have imagined.
We have talked to people who have lost everything, and still can smile and say that they are blessed.
Thursday Ron, Mike and Andreas were working an area doing reassessments--checking with homeowners to be sure that their needs were being met. They talked to a young man who had worked the casinos, and had lost his job as a result of the hurricane. That meant that he also had lost his health insurance. He was being treated for several medical conditions, an d now has no insurance to pay for meds. The damage to his house was minimal, but he was getting low on meds. The guys gave him some ideas about how he could get assistance (free clinic and applying for Medicaid) but he did not seem very interested.
Ron particularly was disturbed by the young mans story. Friday night when we were meeting and talking about ways to spend the money we collected , he asked if it would be appropriate to give this young man money to pay for a monthhs worth 0f meds. Saturday morning, we talked with Irene, who agreed that it would be a good use of some of the money.
Ron and I went back to see the young man. He told us that he HAD gone to the free clinic and had received 2 weeks worth of meds. He had also attempted to apply for Medicaid, but the office had closed early for the holiday weekend. I talked with him about his meds and got a list of the 3 medicines he was taking. He did have refills and used the pharmacy at the local Winn-Dixie to get his meds. Ron and I then went to the pharmacy and got prices for 30 days of his meds ($340). We then got gift cards from the store and took them back to him. He was very grateful, and Ron said got a bit teary. Ron asked him to promise to help someone in need when he gets back on his feet, which he promised to do.
This is just one example of how we have been able to help people who have lost much. We learned 2 things from this experience--that people DO hear what you are saying ( he followed up with both of their suggestions) and that we CAN make an impact on peoples lives in our own small ways.
Happy New year and we will see you soon.
God Bless.
Stephanie
