Helping Others

I can't believe it.  I can't believe how horrible some of our systems are.
My daughter has a friend with stage 4 cancer.  I hate referring to someone as her or she, so let’s give her a name.  Let’s call her Bella.  The cancer she has is now in the lung area.  She is currently having radiation therapy.  The bad news is she has cancer.  The good news is she is getting treatment.  But there is a lot more to this story...
As an outsider looking in, I am mortified of the way she has been treated.  I will tell you the story as I know it.
Bella had cancer before and was given treatment.  She then went into remission. 
Bella has three children.  I know that one is three, one is five, and I don't know the age of the third one.  She lives in one room efficiency with her husband and children on the south part of town that her brother pays for.  Of course she is glad to have it, but can you imagine living in an efficiency with children!  I guess it could be worse.  You might ask why her brother is paying for it, well, because her husband gets fired from just about job he has been lucky to get because he either has to take off to take Bella to treatment or she is sick and can’t take care of the kids.  Don’t judge, unless you have been there.
You might ask why she is living in the efficiency, it is because she applied for public housing and was denied.  Are you ready for this?  She didn’t have any rental references.  No references, no housing.  Really, now I know why people lie!
Bella applied for social security disability benefits.  She was denied.  This I honestly don’t understand.  I guess they feel like they can flood the poor person with paperwork and they die before anyone assistance is given or because she is only 34, it can’t be that bad.  That is not a fact that is just my personal feelings.  I tried to call District 10 ProBono Projects, but hey only have live people taking intake information on Monday from 10 a.m. to noon and Thursday from 2-5 p.m.  Of course I am not Bella, I don’t have a power of attorney and I don’t know enough personally to get her help. 
Help, right, she needs help.  That was my goal, get someone to help her.  She is too busy fighting for her life and keeping her family together, she can’t fight the system too. 
My next thought was Adult Protection Services.  Well, that won’t work, no one is being abused.
I called a church.  Can you believe they actually asked me what I expected them to do?  “Nothing” I said as I hung up the phone.  Nothing.  What I wanted was for them to treat her and her family like their neighbor.  I wanted someone to go to them with a casserole and let Bella know someone cares.  I wanted them to go ask what she needs, how can they help her in her time of need.  I want them to offer her emotional and spiritual support now.  I want someone to ask if her children need clothing or if Bella needs childcare so she can puke her guts up without her children worrying about her.  But who am I to tell the church what to do. 
It took a little bit of work, but I found out who the social worker is where Bella is receiving treatment.  I know she can’t tell me anything, but there are things I can tell her.  I sent her an email telling her all of the things I knew about Bella and how when someone in authority says no, she takes it as a no and doesn’t fight. 
We are missing something in our community.  We are missing advocates for those who are young and sick.  I know, I know, we have the community kitchen, shelters, and such, but we need someone who can go to the client, not wait in your office for the client to come to you.  Sometimes they are too busy fighting for their life to come and beg you for anything.