|
Group reaches out to grandparent in need
Published February 28, 2007
SOCIAL CIRCLE — An old adage states, “It takes a village to raise a child.”
But in the case of Jeremiah Walker, it took the collaboration of his grandmother and almost every family service charity in Walton County.
After circumstances left Harriet Walker as caretaker of her grandsons Tony, 6, and Jeremiah, 3, she was left with few options in how to arrange care for the two. With the older boy diagnosed with ADHD, Walker already had her hands full, but Jeremiah suffered from an extremely rare disease, citrullinemia, which affects the body’s ability to break down protein.
“I quit my job because I had to take care of Jeremiah,” Walker said.
Jeremiah’s metabolic disorder meant he had to carefully watch everything he eats, sticking to a strict intake of a certain amount of protein, or else even a little extra could put the young boy into a coma.
Without a job or a working vehicle, Walker was left with few options in paying for Jeremiah’s medication or dietary supplements, and had no way of transporting Jeremiah and Tony to school or the doctor.
Then Walker got a little help.
Referred to the Partnership for Families, Children and Youth by Social Circle school counselors, Walker soon found herself with the aid of Walton County’s Healthy Grandparents, a nonprofit support system for grandparents raising their grandchildren.
“This was basically a life-or-death situation,” said Elizabeth Mazza, program coordinator for Healthy Grandparents, on the problems Walker faced with her youngest grandson. “When I met Harriet, her car was broken down on the side of the road. We worked to get it fixed, but every time we turned around, we needed another part for one that had been stolen off the car. And then the car disappeared.
“This was a very special situation.”
With the help of Mazza and Deena Huff of the Partnership, they began to work on helping Harriet. Getting in contact with Faith In Serving Humanity, they actually secured a used car, recently donated to F.I.S.H., for Walker’s use.
“That definitely doesn’t happen often,” said Cindy Little, executive director of F.I.S.H.
The three women and their organizations strived to help Walker and her two grandsons. They secured legal guardianship of the boys for Walker so she could access school and medical records, helped Walker find funding for Jeremiah’s food, paid for now by Children Medical Services, even helped Jeremiah mount the challenges of gaining access to Head Start, where his condition means staff must carefully monitor his dietary intake and health.
“It’s really all about collaboration,” Huff said. “If we didn’t have this great working relationship, there no way Harriet would have been served.”
Mazza said much of the praise should go to Walker’s perseverance for her grandchildren.
“If it weren’t for Harriet, Jeremiah would long ago have met his maker,” Mazza said, saying that their work for the family was what they were ready to do for other Walton grandparents. “We have worked together to keep this family together and these children out of foster care.”
Walker, who now has a job at Babies R Us at Stonecrest, said the group had been a lifeline for her fragile family.
“Because of Jeremiah’s rare condition, doors were being closed in my face,” Walker said, adding that the three women and their charities opened those doors. “They truly have been a blessing to us.”
Share |
Save |
Mail |
Print
|
