The public elementary school across the street from our church is the poorest in the city. Chronic absences among students are common given uneven home lives, regular sickness, and parents wrestling with poverty.
Dana is the woman on our church staff whose entire job is focused on that school. She runs programs that benefit school families, one of which is a food pantry offering everything from social worker services to free haircuts. Dana met a woman shopping there named Aleesha.
Aleesha is a petite 25-year-old with a child in kindergarten. As she was carefully perusing the food shelves to select certain items, Dana learned that Aleesha had taken the bus from a hospital 20 minutes away. She wasn’t looking to bring back anything more than was convenient to carry.
