How does someone rebound when she’s lost everything? She relies on her friends and allies – and life-changing donors like you.
It was Saturday last November when Marge Goodreault received news that caught the breath in her lungs. The local news had reported an apartment fire in Manchester, NH, an inferno that consumed the entire building and had, tragically, claimed a life.
Marge, a case manager for Crotched Mountain Community Care (CMCC), felt a surge of panic because she recognized the address of the building; it was where her client Susan lived. Eventually, after many phone calls, Marge located Susan, who had been put up in emergency shelter through the Red Cross.
Susan had just barely escaped the fire, jolted by the smoke alarm, and running out with no shoes or jacket, just her nightgown and phone representing the last of her world possessions (she,sadly, lost her pets in the blaze).
As a CMCC client, Susan receives medical and personal care services to help her remain in her home and out of nursing care placement. She is in her 70s, suffers from chronic illness and has mobility challenges, which made her bounce-back from the building fire all the more imposing.
“After the initial shock, we tried to return Susan to as much normalcy as possible,” Marge says. “That meant rerouting her services and personal items to her hotel and getting equipment like a walker and shower chair so she could move around her place safely.”
Once these pieces fell into place the heavy lifting of finding a new apartment settled in. The collaboration among Susan’s case workers from CMCC, Manchester Mental Health, and Catholic Medical Center, brought many “almosts” and near-successes (the affordable housing market in New Hampshire is vanishingly small). Eventually, a new apartment was located and Susan moved into itin February.
“We tried to return Susan to as much normalcy as possible.”
Through CMCC grant funding, Susan was able to outfit her new home with a kitchen table, chairs, bureaus, and a microwave cart.
“She persevered,” Marge said. “There was lots of collaboration and many phone calls to housing providers and emails to the other social workers. We all played a part and now she’s good to go. She even has two new cats.”
Thank you for your support of Crotched Mountain Foundation – your generosity is directly responsible for giving Susan hope following a hopeless situation. Click here to give today!