By Pastor Manisha Dostert, Senior Associate Rector
Melissa is a nurse in the Henry Ford Health system who contracted COVID-19. She almost went on the ventilator but begged her medical team to keep her off since she was a single mother who had a young daughter and aging parents for whom she was caring before she got hit with the virus. She pulled through and was released with oxygen and went back home to care for herself while her ex-husband cared for their daughter. Caring for herself at home and on oxygen with limited physical ability meant that she could not do much for herself, including getting groceries or making meals. So, she ate what was in her house, which, in the end, was just ice cream. She also had some cognitive problems because of COVID-19. To make matters worse, she was not receiving a paycheck because of some glitches in the system. She had no money to buy food.
Victoria Laurenzi-Jump, our Pastoral Care Associate who works also in the Henry Ford Health System, learned about Melissa’s plight and knew our church could help. With a couple of phone calls and the generosity of the givers to the COVID-19 Response Fund, we donated a gift card to Melissa to get her through until she could get back on her feet.
Stories like this are evidence that God is working to heal our community. We are all sharing the work to repair the world. Bless you for your generous and abundant gifts to the church.
