Outreach Council Helps Family With Unexpected Expense
Families with children cannot do without certain things — among them a refrigerator.
Allison (not her real name) and her husband have eight children, ranging in age from 4 to 17, so when their refrigerator died it was a crisis.
“I had no idea where we would be able to get the money for a new one,” said Allison, noting the family depends solely on her husband’s income because it is hard to get care for her younger children because the family’s daycare provider closed due to the pandemic. “I clean houses when I can,” she said.
Upon a friend’s advice, Allison called the Lower Cape Outreach Council, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help support residents in need on the Lower and Outer Cape. Led by a licensed social worker, LCOC’s volunteer advocates work with clients one on one to determine how best to help, whether it’s paying a utility bill, helping with car repair costs, or covering a rent or mortgage payment.
In this case, LCOC purchased a new refrigerator for the family, making sure to get one that was in stock so they wouldn’t have to go long without one. “They were so accommodating,” Allison said. “We waited maybe three days, and they even paid to get the old one removed.”
She added that the new fridge is larger than the old one that broke down, because her caseworker at the Lower Cape Outreach Council insisted on it. After learning how many children the family feeds, “She was like, 20 inches will not work for that family,” Allison said with a laugh.
She and her husband are grateful for the organization’s help in covering the unexpected expense of a refrigerator — and now they can focus on putting food in it.