Beds for Valerie’s children

Valerie is trying her hardest to improve her family’s circumstances but it hasn’t been easy. Valerie’s husband, Oscar, has been in prison for four years and has two more years to his sentence. Valerie has been on her own raising their seven children (ages 5-16).

Until now, Valerie worked as a secretary and earned very little, often below minimum wage. That sum, along with a small government stipend, is all she has had to meet her family’s needs. Needless to say, they are incurring debts and struggling to make ends meet. To make matters worse, Valerie worries constantly about her children, especially the older ones, as they are exposed to so many negative influences in their lives. To her credit, Valerie cooperates fully with social services and the family meets regularly with social workers.

Now things have taken an even sharper turn for the worse as Valerie has been put on unpaid leave due to the Corona crisis.

Valerie and her children share three bedrooms and two of the children don’t have beds. The only bed that will fit into the tiny bedroom is a bunk bed but Valerie cannot afford to buy one. At the very least, her children deserve beds to sleep on.