Julia, 56, has a big heart. She graduated from college with a degree in social work and worked with children in the foster care system for years. After having her first child, she knew she. wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. Julia fell in love with being a mother and started adopting and fostering children so they could have a better life. She and her husband loved having a big family.
But she never could have imagined raising several children alone. A few years ago, her husband died in a farming accident. He was in the hospital for days, accumulating nearly $500,000 in medical bills. Fortunately, the bills were paid by Worker’s Compensation, but still, amidst her grieving, Julia worried how she would make it without him.
Julia has a household of 12, with most of her kids still in school. The money Julia receives every month from her husband's death is not enough to pay her large family's bills, and they don't receive government food benefits.
Because of inflation, Julia’s grocery bills have risen dramatically. She has a job working at a greenhouse, but it is not enough to support her family.
“Everything's getting to be harder and harder to pay — electric bills have gone up, gas bills have gone up, insurance. Everything has gone up.”
She visits the Love Center Food Pantry in Holmes County for extra groceries when she needs to.
"This pantry helps alleviate the stress of worrying about how I'm going to feed my family.”
Because of the pantry, Julia can use her paycheck to purchase her children's other essentials.
“These groceries make it so that I can purchase clothes for the kids or buy school supplies.”