Empower a Resilient Family Facing Challenges

My name is Melody Thompson and I am a mother of 7. I have 4 boys and soon to be 4 girls in all. My daughter is due 11/22/24. Being a single mom has been hard for me. All my kids were fathered by a wonderful man but he is no longer with us. Now I have to raise them by myself. I know it's going to be anything but easy because my husband had taken half of the responsibility. I was recently working at Amazon. They ended up terminating me due to my time being in the negative. The reason my time was in the negative was due to the company not honoring my accommodations properly as they should have due to my pregnancy. I was not supposed to lift or push anything over 25 lbs. They would put me on the dock as a pusher, where I had to push packages that were over the weight limit of my accommodations. I started to hurt one afternoon while working on the docks as a pusher. Before calling my doctor, I tried everything that I could possibly think of so I could continue my workday. I took 2 Tylenol pills, I hydrated, and I sat down with my feet up, but the pain was still consistent. I called my doctor and was told to go home and get rest, and if my pain continued or worsened, to come to the hospital. The next couple of days when I went to work, there was no pain until they put me back at the dock. 45 minutes into working, the same issue occurred, and I followed my same procedures, but the pain did not let up. I called my doctor and their orders were to go home, and if the pain worsened, to come to the hospital. I did what I was told for the health of my unborn child. I even communicated with the officials at Amazon to make sure I did the proper procedures for calling out, and they promised it would be excused, but that was not the case. I received an email on my day off that informed me I had been terminated. This not only put me in a bind but it eliminated my income source to provide for my family. I have applied for jobs since then and went to interviews. Even though companies can't discriminate against me due to my pregnancy, I've been getting the email that they have moved forward with other candidates. No one is going to hire me and I'm due to have my child in November, but I am still seeking employment because I can't have my kids homeless or hungry. My main concern is my kids. Fund will be used to help me move all my items and provide as some maintenance for our vehicle.