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.For
three years Lafayah who had been surviving on
welfare and handouts lived in her car with her
seven year old son Joey. Joey had a severe case
of asthma. For two years, she had been taking
Joey for treatment to a welfare clinic in the
Bronx. But Joey's condition was getting worse
and on a blustery December morning, unable to
bear the winter chills in her car, mustered the
courage to seek shelter for herself and Joey in
the food class. Lafayah had just happened to have
parked in the neighborhood, close to the center
where MOM's weekend classes on nutrition were
being held. Lafayah and Joey were both shivering
uncontrollably, as Joey struggled for breath.
The instructor ceased what she was doing and quickly
provided them with yoga mats to keep them warm.
But Joey's condition was deteriorating quickly.
He was not able to breathe. The instructor took
the hot pot of carrot, ginger and scallion soup
she was demonstrating, over to Joey and helped
to support his face over the steaming pot. She
placed a towel over Joey's head and gently persuaded
him to relax. Thanks to the alert thinking of
the instructor, the pungent steam had helped Joey
to breathe again. After ten minutes of inhalation,
Joey had recovered from his asthmatic attack.
Visibly relieved that her son was breathing again,
Lafayah started to cry and confided in the instructor
that she had been begging for handouts in the
street "to keep myself and Joey from starving
to death." MOM assisted Lafayah to find a homeless
shelter that provided a warm room for her and
Joey which she shared with other inmates. Lafayah
began attending the food classes, and she and
Joey would stay on afterwards to have their meals
and help with the clean-up. Less than a year later,
Lafayah now holds down a part time job, she was
able to rent a small apartment of her own, and
Joey is now completely free of asthma. In a recent
letter to MOM, Lafayah writes, "Thanks to MOM,
Joey no longer suffers from asthma and I don't
have to live with the shame of poverty anymore!"
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