Readers race to bring hope to struggling mom

On Monday I felt a glimmer of what it must be like to be Oprah.

I called up Katreena Ann Rogers that afternoon. She’s the struggling Spokane single mom I wrote about last Sunday. She was so frustrated when she discovered she’d made 30 cents too much in July to qualify for a one-time welfare grant that she wrote Spokane Mayor Dennis Hession.

After my column about that letter appeared, Katreena’s phone started ringing. Former co-workers and fellow single moms called to thank her for having the courage to speak up.

“It feels really good to say something and have people take you seriously,” she said.

And then I told her about the response I’d heard from readers of that column. Phone calls, e-mails and letters were pouring in, many of them offering to help Katreena buy school supplies for her three children. After 15 of those messages, I lost count. Just that day, Sally O’Brien dropped off a $100 Macy’s gift card for school clothes.

“Oh, Lord have mercy,” Katreena exclaimed into the phone. “I tell you what: God has blessed us.”

Many of these messages came from other mothers and former single moms, like O’Brien. She told me she has vivid memories of trying to raise and educate her son on her own. He’s now a successful Microsoft accountant with a master’s degree. But, his mom said, “It took every cent I ever had in my whole life, no doubt.”

“I too was a single parent raising a child on my own and making minimum wage,” wrote another woman. “My life has always been an uphill battle, but I now have a very comfortable life, and I just want to help someone else out that could really use it.

“There were so many times I wish someone would have shown me a little kindness and lended a helping hand when I was struggling to meet bills, day care, groceries, etc.”

As the days passed, more help arrived.

A man living on Social Security disability sent $20. Others offered backpacks, school supplies, checks and gift certificates to ShopKo.

Several also asked about how to help other single moms in this region.

“There’s a lot of Katreenas,” said the Rev. Happy Watkins, pastor at her church, New Hope Baptist. He plans to funnel donations to other single moms not only in his congregation but also in the East Central community.

In 2000, according to the U.S. Census, 34 percent of Spokane County women raising children under the age of 18 were living in poverty.

Readers were stunned to learn about the realities of stretching Katreena’s $15,000 annual salary. The National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University estimates it takes $40,000 a year to cover the basic needs for a family of that size.

After work one day last week, Katreena stopped by the newspaper so I could pass along $180 that arrived in my mailbox that day. She’d already talked to two women who called her directly to help – and her kids were tickled.

One reader asked about her two little girls’ favorite colors. One chose pink, the other purple. There appeared to be Tinkerbell and Hello Kitty rolling backpacks in their future.

Katreena set aside some of the money she received to share with the benevolence fund at New Hope Baptist Church, which has helped her family in the past. She planned that the donations would help her get current with her day-care and Rent-A-Center bills.

She’d also pay off her utility bills and be able to buy gasoline.

“I feel blessed,” she said.

Neither of us imagined readers of this column would overwhelm Katreena with their generosity. But they did.

Before she left that afternoon, I handed her my favorite letter from a trio of South Hill readers.

“Dear Ms. Jamie Tobias Neely,” it said. “We read your article about the single mom with three kids who needed school supplies. We wanted to help, so here is $60 for their school supplies. We hope they have a great school year!

“Sincerely, Molly, Annie and Grace, ages 11, 9 and 6.”

Katreena read the letter aloud as three $20 bills tumbled out.

Tears welled in her deep brown eyes.

For a long moment, she wept quietly. Finally, she found a way to speak.

“I just never thought,” she said, shaking her head as her voice trailed off. “The whole goal was just for people to talk about it and see if something could be done to help single moms who are out there and working really hard.

“It just does my heart good,” she said.

Mine, too. It turns out, of course, it’s not me, but the community that turned into Oprah last week. Katreena Rogers is not the only one who feels grateful.

Thank you all.