When you’re raising a large family, you have to be resourceful.
Ophelia is one of those moms you hear about that has unbelievable strength and courage. As a single mom raising six children ranging in age from one to eighteen, she is remarkably resilient through life’s ups and downs. She has created a tight-knit bond with all her kids, and you can see just by watching them together how much they love and support one another. Ophelia would do anything for them.
Being a single working mom of six means money is often tight. Although proud, Ophelia isn’t shy about asking for help at times if it means she can keep her family fed, healthy, and housed. During an appointment with the local WIC (Women, Infant, and Children) food program, she asked them if they knew of other resources to help her family, such as transportation, utility assistance, and early learning programs.
Ophelia was in luck! That’s when she learned about Children’s Home Society of Washington’s Family Resource Center. It was in the same building as the WIC office, so she was able to meet with someone at the Family Resource Center the same day without having to take more time off work.
That day, Ophelia met a Family Navigator at the Center who completed an initial assessment that helped her get to know more about Ophelia and what she wanted for her and her kids. Ophelia quickly learned there were a variety of programs and services she and her family could benefit from, including early learning programs, food and clothing assistance, and employment support.
When Ophelia left the Family Resource Center that day, she was filled with excitement about the unexpected support she had stumbled upon. Unfortunately, Ophelia was soon dealt an unexpected blow. Her car was broken into and her purse was stolen along with her ID. It’s one of those moments in life we all dread and hope will never happen to us. But it had for Ophelia.
Ophelia wasn’t sure where to turn so she picked up the phone and called the Family Navigator, who helped walk her through what she needed to do and point her to resources to help her get her ID replaced and car repaired. During that call, Ophelia also shared that she had difficulty having enough food to last the month because their EBT funds were not going as far as they used to with food prices going up.
Fortunately, the Family Navigator knew just the resource that could help. Children’s Home Society of Washington was hosting a community resource event that weekend where numerous local community organizations would be distributing a variety of resources to families, including diapers and canned food. Ophelia jumped at the chance to get signed up.
The day of the event, Ophelia was also thrilled to discover there was a mobile dental van providing onsite dental care so she could finally address some tooth pain she had been having. She was also able to set all her kids set up with dental appointments, something she had wanted to do for a long time but didn’t have the dental insurance or finances to cover their visits.
Over the following months, Ophelia stayed connected with the Family Navigator. They met in person several times as well as spoke through phone calls and texts often. She became a trusted lifeline for Ophelia.
Today, Ophelia and her youngest child continue to be involved in the early learning program and she often drops by the Center to access resources and connect with the Family Navigator.
What started with a simple question of “Do you know of any other resources?” led Ophelia to discover a new support system through our Family Resource Center.
She can’t imagine a more caring and welcoming place to belong.