Join the Austin American-Statesman and People's Community Clinic in caring for some of our less fortunate neighbors this holiday season.
Some of us go through the years with nothing but success and good fortune. Most of us, though,
know some some measure of disappointment, heartache or struggle. And, then, there are those of us whose
lives are challenged beyond the bounds of what seems tolerable. They are the people who remind us about
the human capacity for compassion, generosity and understanding.
The Austin American-Statesman begins its annual Season for Caring campaign by introducing 12
local families facing hardships. They are struggling to help themselves, but life has tossed them financial,
emotional and health-related roadblocks.
All these families need is a little help from their friends. And by friends, we mean the good people of
this community. The holidays are upon us. We hope you remember it is the season for caring.
People's Community Clinic is sponsoring the Tolbert family. Won't you join us in giving them a helping hand?
Click here to learn about ways to give.
Click here to read the Tolberts' wish list.
Nancy and Edward Tolbert have long helped special-needs children. For 10 years, they fostered boys with troubled backgrounds through a nonprofit program. They worked with the state to provide respite care for families with youngsters with severe disabilities. Now, they are raising a grandson who was shaken as a baby and has cerebral palsy and mental retardation.
They’ve
volunteered with the Austin Police Department’s Blue Santa program.
Through Family Eldercare, they’ve delivered air conditioners to seniors.
The Austin Area Urban League named them “Volunteers of the Year”
in 1999 for their work with an after-school program.
They’ve given a lot to the community. Now, they need help.
Edward, 58, suffered a stroke almost two years ago and is disabled. Nancy, also 58, is diabetic and is slowed by knee and hip problems. She is also hobbled by a back injury she suffered after a fall. Still, she works full time as a teacher’s assistant at Austin Independent School District’s Clifton Center, a vocational training program for special education students. She’s been there 25 years.
“It’s been traumatic being in a position to ask for anything,” Nancy said. “ We were so used to helping other people.”
Carol Cook of Austin met the Tolberts in the mid-1980s. The couple provided respite care for Cook’s son, Jason, through a state agency formerly called Mental Health and Mental Retardation. They helped care for Jason, who had seizures and behavioral problems, on weekends.
“It was a break I definitely needed because there were times I couldn’t take Jason out in public. The whole Tolbert family was incredible,” Cook says. “They embraced us and we embraced them. When Jason graduated from high school, they were all there.”
Nancy Mays-Tolbert is sad because she can’t continue that kind of work.
“If we had more room and the strength, we’d adopt more kids,” she says.
But they can’t. Every day Tolbert struggles to keep the household going. Her own health problems have slowed her down. On top of the challenging work she faces at home with her grandson Douglas, who is quadriplegic and needs round-the-clock care, the Tolberts have adopted 10-year-old Johnathon and 8-year-old Jonikqua, children the Tolberts first met through a private agency fostering program. (They have two older sons who are married.) Both Johnathon and Jonikqua were born to drug-addicted mothers and have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and asthma.
“I think I’m a strong woman,” she says stoically. “I just know I have to keep going. I got that from my momma.”
Then she remembers she has to go pick up Johnathon from football practice. Douglas will need to be fed and changed soon. And Jonikqua wants reading time.
-Ricardo Gándara, Austin American-Statesman
Read more! The time and energy that the Tolberts have given to their community has come back to them in their time of need. The Meals on Wheels organization they once volunteered for has been helping with their much-needed home renovations. Read the story from News 8 Austin.
Wish List:
House improvements: The Tolberts' house needs improvements to be wheelchair-accessible. It also needs extensive repairs (cracked walls, defective sliding door, insulation of windows, leaky roof).
Other household needs: Chests of drawers, large bookshelf, a carport, storage shed to keep medical equipment for grandson Douglas, computer for Douglas, wheelchair that reclines for Douglas, a van with a lift to transport Douglas.
Medical Assistance: Financial assistance with medical bills for dad Edward’s hospitalization for a stroke and his rehabilitation treatment; rehabilitative physical therapy for Edward to regain the use of his right hand, dental care for Nancy and Edward, assistance with medication costs for Edward (monthly costs are $135).
Other financial assistance: help to pay car note; financial assistance to buy over-the-counter skin care and other medical products for children, gift cards for toys.
| Clothing: | Women’s | 2XL tops and pants 20 dress 8 ½ shoes |
| Men’s | 2XL shirts 42x31 pants 11 ½ wide shoes |
|
| Boy’s | 8-10 and 10-12 shirts 12-14 pants 3 ½ shoes |
|
| Girl’s | 8-10 tops 10-12 pants 1 ½ shoes |
Ways to Donate:
Click here to make an online donation to a Season for Caring Family.
Download a printable mail-in donation form (Requires Adobe Acrobat - PDF file)
PDF Documents require that you have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. To get the Reader, please click the button below.
For more information about Season for Caring:
See the news article at the Austin American-Statesman
See the Flash Player Interactive Presentation about all 12 Season for Caring families
For more information about the Tolbert Family
or the People's Community Clinic, please contact:
Abby Williamson
Resource Development Associate
People's Community Clinic
512-708-3156
abbyw@austinpcc.org
