The San Francisco Season of Sharing Fund

Hospitalizations put family on shaky ground financially

As a single mother of three teenage daughters, Tami Blackwell was struggling to make ends meet. She had moved the girls from East Oakland two years ago to a one-bedroom apartment in Fremont for better schools and a calmer environment.

Space was tight -- with the 13-year-old twins sleeping on couches in the living room and 17-year-old Jamia Givens bunking with Mom -- and so was money. But the family was getting by. Then in July, their carefully crafted existence began to unravel.

Jamia became ill. She was listless, her eyes droopy and her neck weak. Most frightening, she would stop breathing in her sleep for up to 40 seconds at a time. Her mother took her to the hospital for X-rays and blood tests, but they found nothing wrong.

The next week, on Aug. 3, Jamia collapsed in front of her sisters as she tried to walk outside for some fresh air. Her mother rushed home from work. They called 911.

It seemed to Blackwell that it took forever for the ambulance to leave. She later learned Jamia had stopped breathing, and paramedics were trying desperately to revive her.

Jamia ended up hospitalized at Children's Hospital Oakland and UCSF for nearly two months as doctors tried, unsuccessfully, to diagnose her breathing problem.

It didn't take long for Blackwell to exhaust her sick leave from her job as an administrative assistant so she could stay by her daughter's bedside. She began working part time when she could.

"It was hard on me. I wanted to be there with her longer than I could be," Blackwell said. "I was immediately racing to the hospital when I got off work. I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping, I wasn't connecting with my other children."

Then, with Jamia still in the hospital -- a feeding tube down her throat, IVs snaking from her arms and legs -- Blackwell returned home one day in September to find an eviction notice on her door for failing to pay rent.

"I panicked," she said. "I felt like I was losing my child, I was losing my residence, and I was losing myself. I just didn't know what else to do."

Blackwell sought help through ECHO Housing in Hayward, which referred her to The San Francisco Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund. The program paid her rent for a few months, allowing the family to stay in their home and helping them get through the holidays.

"It offered me a sense of relief," Blackwell said. "We probably would have jumped from family member to family member before ending up in a shelter."

But times remain tough for the family. Blackwell still misses work up to three times a week to shuttle Jamia to doctor's appointments as far away as Oakland and Stanford University. Last month, her car was repossessed, making those trips even more difficult.

Jamia was hospitalized again for tests earlier this month because she felt she couldn't draw enough air into her lungs.

Thankfully, Blackwell said, her boss and co-workers -- one of whom donated sick time to her -- have been supportive.

"She's dedicated to her work, dependable and accurate," said Steve Hale, owner of Hale Documentation Services, a loan signing business. "She's amazing, really. Most people couldn't handle all she's been through."

To save money, she has disconnected the family's phone, and she worries that she is behind on her utility bills because Jamia must use an electric breathing machine at night.

Doctors still don't know what is wrong with Jamia, though they suspect a rare autoimmune disease. She is on nine different medications, and complains that they have made her gain weight and her skin break out.

"It's pretty scary. Nobody knows if it could happen again or when," Jamia said of her respiratory failure. "It leads me to believe they're not going to find anything, and it will come back."

Meanwhile, Blackwell has told her children not to expect much for Christmas. Daughter Ashley Givens only recently got new back-to-school shoes when her mother noticed blisters on her feet. She never complained, because she didn't think they could afford new shoes.

"We're barely able to keep up with the needs. The wants will have to wait," Blackwell said. "They moan about it, but they understand."

About the fund

The Season of Sharing Fund is the Bay Area's largest private source of direct aid for people in need of emergency financial assistance. Unlike other organizations that provide relief for an indefinite period of time, The Chronicle's Season of Sharing Fund is designed to keep people on their feet with a one-time grant.

Each year, the fund helps more than 5,000 families around the Bay Area, allocating most of its grants for basic needs such as move-in costs and housing and sometimes paying for necessities, such as transportation to work, wheelchair ramps and even essential furniture for family reunification. Grants are always paid directly to the supplier of services, such as landlords. Individuals cannot receive direct grants.

The fund, which also provides more than 400,000 meals for low-income families, relies on donations from readers and is distributed year-round. All overhead fees are covered by The Chronicle and participating philanthropic organizations, so every penny of your donation goes directly to those who need it most.