A family trying to hang on by a thread needs help

The day started like any other day. I was working from home. The window of my home office overlooking the street allowed me to see the comings and goings of cars and people all day long. Around 4 pm while I was in a work meeting, I noticed a police car pulling over another car just past my home. Not thinking anything of it, I continued with my meeting. An hour had passed when I noticed the blue lights of the police car and the car they had pulled over still in the same spot along with a tow truck that had pulled up just in front of the car the police had pulled over. I wouldn't have thought much more about it, except I noticed the family (a man, his wife, their 2 daughters, five and six, and 2 dogs with trash bags containing their entire belongings scattered on the sidewalk, our neighbor's yard and on the street. The little girls were crying, the father and mother appeared distressed, and the 2 dogs were tied to the street sign.

What I later learned was the police had pulled the car over for an expired tag. Upon running the tag they learned the insurance had expired and were forced to have the car impounded. Sadly, this car was this family's "thread" they were hanging on to. It was not only their source of transportation to enable the mother (declared legally blind) to get to her to work, but it was also their home. The father had recently lost his job, and the family had been forced to live in the car after the mother's mother whom they were living with had passed away just before Thanksgiving. The young couple also had an infant who was being kept by an extended family member.

It was a Godsend that this family got pulled over in our West-Midtown Atlanta neighborhood. This is a loving, giving community, and our dear friend brought the family into her home, fed them, provided comfort, played and sang with the girls, and got them into a shelter for the night.

The sad part of this story is that this family only seems to operate in "survival mode". Every plan they attempted to make to get ahead seemed to fall through. What may have once been a string they were holding onto had worn down to a thread, and now that thread seems to be breaking. The touching part of this story was watching the neighborhood come together to help them. One neighbor offered to keep their dogs as the shelter does not allow pets. Another neighbor was able to get them to the shelter. Another offering to watch the kids on the weekends while the parents could work to save money for a place to live. Another offering to wash and dry their dirty clothes. Another providing them with gift cards they had received for Christmas.

Seeing this unfold, learning about what our wonderful neighbors had done, and hearing the unending series of tragic events this family had been through is what has motivated me to make this appeal to all of you. My heart goes out to this family... the young parents just trying to provide for their family, their children who are too young to understand what's going on, and even the pets who are probably confused as to why they are not with their loved ones.

In reading this story, stop and take a moment to be grateful for all you have. I also ask for your prayers and thoughts for this family, and for whatever you feel compelled to give.