Stephanie is the home care nurse for a 7 year old boy named "D". D lives with his parents and 2 brothers in South Sioux City. D was diagnosed with leukemia and has undergone two separate bone marrow transplants in Omaha, NE. D and his mother spent 8 months straight in Children's Hospital and UNMC this past year and they are finally home. Mercy Home Health Services provides care for D and his family and noticed that the home they were renting was crawling with cockroaches. The roaches would crawl over the floors, walls, counters, etc. and are notorious for carrying germs and leaving eggs everywhere. Because D is immunosuppressed due to his treatment, they knew they had to get the family out of that rental home. There are not many rental options right now so they contacted Social Services and they were able to get the family listed as a priority for subsidized housing. A new rental unit became available for them but they would have to leave ALL of their belongings behind so as not to bring cockroach eggs and germs into the new home and minimize risks for little D.
The Mercy Home Health agency decided to "adopt" this family for Christmas this year, but the timetable was moved up drastically when the new unit became available. The family was expecting to move into an empty house and sleep on the floors until they could figure out what to do as they couldn't bring anything except their vehicles.
On Sunday, November 22, Stephanie took action. She contacted friends, friends of friends, and got word out on Facebook to get help for this family. In just a few hours, she had located people willing to donate furniture, beds, bedding, and time and the family was moved in short order to their new home. A friend of a friend donated two queen size beds, a table and chairs, sofa and recliner, and lots of kids clothing for the boys to try on. Others (including Stephanie's family) donated another sofa and chair, two twin mattresses, new pillows, new bedding (sheets, blankets, comforters, etc.), pots, pans, dishes, gift cards for coats and clothing. Some members of the Briar Cliff baseball team came and helped load up, transport, and unload the furniture.
It was a beautiful example of a community in action to help a neighbor. The family was beyond grateful and the tears were flowing. All because Stephanie saw a need and took action.
Stephanie has taken action for others in need before and never asks for or expects recognition. But as I watched all this unfold, I was extremely proud of her and knew that her Mercy family would be too. Her compassion does not go unnoticed!