Illustrative Case Studies
Please note: Care has been taken to not identify the specific people involved nor their exact whereabouts
The Seamstress
A mother was raising her eight-year-old alone because after years of physical and emotional abuse, she finally walked away with her and her child’s life still intact. Years of neglect had made her body and mind feeble. She had no meaningful education or employment experience or marketable skills or scope of getting any loans, be it from her family, friends, or any bank.
A lady who knew of her situation informed another lady who was known in the community to be like an angel who helped struggling women. The struggling mother and the angel agreed that buying her groceries was not a long-term solution. That would be to pick up a skill that would allow the mother to land a gainful, sustained way to earn a living. That would allow her to live and to raise her child with dignity and self-respect.
They listed tasks the mother was experienced in or good at. Most were eliminated because they required expensive, time-consuming training or risk capital with too much time between starting and becoming financially successful. They explored her attitude and aptitude for several options, like cutting hair professionally. But attending hair-cutting school, getting the necessary certificate, and then working in a saloon while juggling the upbringing of her eight-year-old was too intimidating. Even though the angel would have fronted her the monies needed as an interest free loan with principle due back if she could afford to pay back, workable solutions were slim.
When they explored sewing, they discovered even though she had only elementary skills, her passion for learning more and making a living from sewing was overflowing. What she needed was a sewing machine of her own, a few lessons, and lots of practice work. The Angel bought and gave her a new sewing machine with a warranty for repairs included. She also paid for the mother to get several quality lessons from a qualified seamstress.
The Angel was aware that there was a ‘ready now’ market for anyone who had the skills to alter clothes in the form of a Showroom selling expensive ethnic ware in a shopping center in the heart of the immigrant community. Ladies would buy expensive ready-made ethnic garments that didn’t always fit exactly right and needed minor alterations. But the showrooms are not equipped to handle alterations. Yet, without the assurance that with alterations a perfect fit would result, the ladies wouldn’t buy the garments. Enter the newly minted seamstress who couldn’t stitch whole garments but could do an excellent job with alterations.
She only got a few alterations at a time but as soon as she proved that she was up to the task, the Showroom sent every task her way and within a short time, she became indispensable to them. Very soon, she made additional private clients and was booked weeks in advance. And she was always doing the work at time that suited her best- when her child was in school or sleeping.
It seems she has turned her life around and is on her way to success. She is so appreciative that in addition to returning the principal amount, she wants to become a Volunteer herself, mentoring others who are today where she used to be. The journey of everyone involved in her turnaround has provided them a heavenly emotional and spiritual reward.
In both the following cases, the struggling single mother was drowning under problems with no respite and a few days from being thrown out on the street.
The cleaner
She had an affinity for keeping places spotless because she believed that God is pleased when you keep yourself and your surroundings clean. An Angel arranged and paid for her to have training on how cleaning gadgets and tools like vacuums, dish washers, washing machines, cleaning detergents etc. work. And within the Angel’s circle of influence, she arranged interviews for the newly trained mother with homes looking for help cleaning. Armed with references from the Angel, the mother landed monthly cleaning gigs. Once she did the work exceptionally well for the first couple of homes, the news traveled fast within the community and soon she had several homes as her regular customers. In less than a year from when she started her training, she had people waiting in line for her services and can see a future financially.
The micro fruit-cart lady
Another single mother had grown up on farms and knew her way around fruit. Turns out she also had the gift of gab and when being treated nicely instead of being put down or beaten, she could be an extrovert who could hold a conversation. An Angel bought for her a small flat cart on four bicycle wheels and the first lot of fresh apples from a wholesaler with a promise of two more lots to be bought at the Angel’s expense within the week. Expectation was that most of the lot would be sold in a couple of days. But the lady sold the entire lot of apples in four hours! And she was back the same day to buy the next lot with the profit she had made from the sale. She never needed to be fronted any more money.
The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.
Pablo Picasso