ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 30, 1996 TAG: 9612300004
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: the good neighbors fund
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
In 1993, Nancy Dillon's car was hit by a drunken driver. In one instant, her 20-year nursing career was finished. Dillon was left with a broken sternum and pelvis and a ruptured spleen.
The driver who caused the accident was convicted and spent two years in jail, but because he had no insurance and no assets, Dillon was left with thousands of dollars in medical bills and a lifetime of pain.
Although it has been two years since the accident, Dillon's doctors don't think her condition will ever improve. She is in constant pain, and is unable to stand or sit or walk for very long.
Because of the loss of her livelihood, she also suffers from depression, and is taking medication and seeing a psychiatrist. The pain "grates on your nerves," she said, and makes the depression worse.
After the accident, Dillon fell behind on her electric bill. She came to Roanoke Area Ministries and was given a grant from RAM's Emergency Financial Assistance Program, which is supported by The Roanoke Times' Good Neighbors Fund.
Although Dillon's physical condition hasn't improved, her financial situation has. She now lives with a friend who also is disabled. The friend contributes money toward the mortgage and utilities, and she provides much-needed companionship for Dillon, who is divorced and has no family in the area.
The friend also helps a lot with the housework, doing things Dillon is unable to do.
After several appeals, Dillon finally qualified for disability payments. She now lives on $701 per month, more than half of which goes toward paying her mortgage. As for the other bills, Dillon pays some of them one month, and others the next month. Her creditors "work with me pretty good," she said. But her new lifestyle is a drastic change from her working days, when she brought home $2,000 a month.
In November, when her housemate was unable to pay her share of the expenses, Dillon came back to RAM for help with the electric bill. Once again, she was given a grant from the Good Neighbors Fund.
Currently, Dillon is looking to alternative medicine to deal with her pain. As a nurse, she knows how addictive pain medication can be, and she tries to get by with over-the-counter drugs.
This year, she took a keyboarding class through the Department of Rehabilitative Services, but her doctors haven't told her if she is physically able to take a part-time job.
If she can, "I'd be willing to try," she said.
Without the grants from RAM, Dillon thinks she would have lost her home. She is grateful for all the help she has received, not just from local charities, but also from her family, friends, doctors and former patients.
Despite her problems, "I thank the good Lord every day," she said.
Checks made payable to the Good Neighbors Fund should be mailed to The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 1951, Roanoke 24008.
Names - but not donation amounts - of contributing businesses, individuals and organizations, as well as memorial and honorific designations, will be listed in the newspaper.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB