The Dick and Dorothy Miller Hands-Up Grant is a Godsend for the recipients of this fund. This funding is dedicated to keeping families with children from becoming homeless. The families helped have been single mothers with children; single fathers with children; intact families; grandparents who are, unexpectedly, raising grandchildren.
Last summer, a young woman, (call her Sara) working full-time at a local assisted living facility, contacted BHI looking for financial assistance. This is a hardworking single mother of a school aged boy. Sara’s cousin needed to attend an inpatient drug treatment program and was raising two boys of her own. Sara offered to take in her cousin’s boys while the cousin attended the treatment program. Sara did not realize how much more expensive it would be to care for the extra children. By the time she reached out to BHI, she had already maximized advances from her employer. She had managed to keep her utilities paid, but was behind on her rent. Her dedication to her extended family was close to causing her and her son to be evicted from their home of nine years.
Using the Dick and Dorothy Miller Hands-Up Grant, BHI paid Sara’s arrears in rent and one more month rent. This allowed her to stay caught up with utilities and continue to care for her cousin’s children. This young woman had never asked for help before this incident and has not asked for financial assistance since. She works hard, budgets her income, and cares for her family and those she serves at her place of employment.
The Miller’s set up this fund to help people like Sara. People who are working diligently to care for their families, then a hardship causes them to be strapped financially. The kindness of the purpose of this grant is overwhelming when you hear the sigh of relief from the recipients. Recipients, like Sara, who feel both shame for asking and blessed for receiving.
