Refrigerator for Lena

Lena is struggling on several fronts. She lost her steady bookkeeping job when she was laid off because of Corona. In the interim, she relied on her low unemployment benefits and her former husband’s child support payments to get through the year. Lena recently found a new position and is working again.

She and her husband divorced because of their difficult relationship, which included his verbal abuse. This, along with the couple’s difficult economic situation, has affected Lena’s relationship with her two girls. In particular, she is having trouble connecting with her 11-year-old daughter, Amira. Amira has violent outbursts both in school and at home, and has threatened suicide several times.

In order to help her and to improve the family dynamics, Lena and the girls have begun family therapy. Social services helped Lena buy a bed, so that she and Amira no longer have to share one. Having done that, however, it cannot help them purchase a refrigerator, even though Lena’s 20-year-old fridge is on its last legs and Lena cannot afford to replace it. No family should have to survive without a refrigerator.