Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, December 5, 1994 TAG: 9412050013
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But for Teresa Cole of Southeast Roanoke, it meant choosing between paying the bills and feeding her family.
Cole, 31, works 30 hours a week as a waitress, and her husband is a carpenter. He makes fairly good wages when he's working, she said, but when the weather is bad, he may work only one day a week. Still, most of the bills get paid out of their salaries, and her tips put food on the table for themselves and their four children.
"We depend on my tips," she said. Without them, "there's not much food coming in."
In January, however, Cole began putting some of her tip money aside to save for a week at the beach, the family's only luxury. They had gone to the shore for the first time last year, and "we really loved it," she said. By August, Cole had saved enough for the trip.
As soon as they got back, however, both she and her husband came down with a severe upper respiratory infection and had to pay for expensive antibiotics. They each missed a week of work, although they both felt bad for weeks afterward. Luckily, the children were not infected, Cole said.
By the end of September, the Coles were behind with their electric bill and were faced with a cutoff notice. They went to the Presbyterian Community Center on Jamison Avenue. The family had been to the center several years before for help with the gas bill.
This time, they were given money from Roanoke Area Ministries' Emergency Financial Assistance program, which is supported by the Good Neighbors Fund.
One week after the bill was paid, however, Cole was temporarily laid off from her job. When she went to sign up for food stamps, she discovered, to her surprise, that the family had been eligible for them all along. But Cole never thought of applying for government assistance before, and it was hard to ask for charity, she said.
"I think if you are able to work, you should get out and do it. Work isn't going to kill you," she said.
Cole went back to work at the end of November. The family has some unpaid medical bills and some other debts that are "really overdue," but she plans to juggle them as best she can.
"It's going to be OK," she said.
Besides caring for their large family, the Coles are both studying for their General Equivalency Diplomas. They have no other pastimes. "There isn't time to do anything else," she laughed.
Cole said she appreciates the help she has been given and would encourage people to donate to the Good Neighbors Fund.
"Who knows," she said. "It could be you needing help next time. You never know what's going to happen."
Checks should be made payable to Good Neighbors Fund and mailed to Roanoke Times & World-News, P.0. Box 1951, Roanoke, Va. 24008.
Names - but not amounts of donations - of contributing businesses, individuals or organizations, as well as memorial and honorific designations, will be listed in the newspaper. Those requesting that their names not be used will remain anonymous. If no preference is stated, the donor's name will be listed.
Gifts cannot be earmarked for any particular individual or family. Gifts are tax-deductible.
by CNB