Jan 31, 2010 / 12:09 pm
For many elderly or disabled individuals, winter is a unsettling time filled with depression brought on by escalating utility bills, social isolation and many other factors. "There is a fear factor in winter when you are alone,” began Susan, 59, who suffers from Rheumatoid arthritis and other ailments that leave her unable to work. She recently received 100 gallons of oil from Bishop Thomas J. Tobin’s “Keep the Heat On” challenge, a program that the grateful recipient emphasized will make a significant difference in the quality of her life this winter.
Susan once enjoyed a successful career as a nonprofit consultant and lived in a spacious apartment on Providence’s East Side. She recalled that she had many clients and conducted more than 50 capital campaigns on behalf of some of Rhode Island’s largest nonprofit organizations.
“I was in the business of taking from the rich and giving it to the needy,” she said, adding that she never dreamed that her circumstances would change and she would someday be looking for assistance.
Susan said she abandoned her career more than a decade ago when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. She drove the ailing woman to doctor’s appointments and chemotherapy treatments as the cancer progressed.