Thread by @HarvestHillsYYC

***Daily Update*** ***Emergency Help Needed***

I have been sitting here at my computer here for the past half hour deciding whether or not I wanted to post about what me and a few members of my team experienced today.

I was out shopping for our food hampers, when my phone rang.

Before I go on....I want to make it clear that Harvest Hills Cares Calgary's Phone will always be answered. The only time it won't be is if we are in a meeting or driving.

I answered the phone...It was a mom of 4 that was told by her worker to come down to the AB Works office to turn in her 90 days of bank statements...& that if she didn't bring them down by the end of the day she would not get her check until Tuesday of next week.

As everyone knows, it is Thanksgiving Weekend this weekend. She is a single mom of 4 with no family of her own here in Calgary. She was laid off from her secretarial job at the beginning of the #COVID19AB pandemic.

So if she was not able to get there to drop off her statements, she would not be able to get her check. By not being able to get her check, she would not be able to get groceries that she needed for herself and her children.

This is where Harvest Hills Cares Calgary Stepped in!

I asked her what her address was & told her that I was on my way! She thought that I would just be giving her transit tickets for her & the kids to take the bus. Nope! I pulled up to her house & told her that I would be taking her to the AB Works office myself.

We loaded up her & the three youngest (The oldest stayed home) & we went down to the Ab Works office.

Here's the kicker.....She played me the voicemail & her worker told her that she had to bring the bank statements by the end of the day or she would not get her check released.

We get to the AB Works office, only to find that it was closed to the public!!!!

So how was she & kids supposed to hand in her bank statements?

She was close to crying!! Both she & I were starting to get very frustrated!!!

We tried calling her worker...got no response. We tried emailing her worker...but only got an automated reply that said they wouldn't be in the office until Thursday of next week!

We tried the intake worker that was on call but was told that she had to speak to her own worker.

We called the after hours emergency number only to be told that there was nothing they could do given the fact that her worker had a hold on her file and put notes on the file to not release anything until her bank statements were handed in. (Thing is she had them!)

At this point she was in tears and her second oldest turned to her mom and said "Mommy, does this mean no gobble gobble?"

The mom looked and said "It looks that way sweetheart. Im sorry but we can have our turkey dinner next weekend when mommy can get some money."

I said to them: You can have your turkey dinner this weekend Lets go get all the stuff so you can help mom make supper!

Off we went to @CalgaryCoop & went shopping! (We really did not have it in our budget but we dipped into our overdraft to make it possible to feed this family)

We went & got everything and then some to make dinner for this weekend & for them to have food for the month.

Their total came to $413.97

This left us in the negative but it left me with a feeling that HHCC helped another family avoid hunger in Calgary.

I also showed the mom how to scan the documents with her phone using a free app. So she scanned her bank statements and emailed them straight to her worker and to the AB Works general mailbox.

We also contacted the emergency after hours line to verify that they received the emailed bank statements, and they did but they said that there was still a hold on her account that could only be released by her worker...which would not be back until thursday of next week!

So if I didnt answer the phone when I did, not drive 2 where this mom was, didnt help this mom & her children when I did, she wouldve had 2 wait until late next week 2 be able 2 contact her worker & get her check released!

Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

This is why we do what we do. But we need your help. We need everyones help to help fill the rest of the hampers that are currently on our list.

If you can help please consider donating to us via Etransfer:

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Our other donation information can be found on our Twitter Profile Bio.

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