From the time she was young, Maria has endured so much. At just 4 years old in her native Brazil, she had typhoid fever. “I was in the hospital for 50 days,” she says. “I almost died of it. I was paralyzed from the hip down.”
Her family came to the United States with every hope for a better life, but Maria’s pain was only just beginning. After keeping to herself mostly through her childhood and teen years, her attempt at starting her own family as a young adult was a nightmare. “My ex-husband was an alcoholic,” she says with difficulty. “I was 25 when I married him … and I was abused by him. It lasted nine years too long. Almost 10 years. To talk about it makes me sick.”
Maria knew something else was wrong, but she couldn’t identify it. She couldn’t hold steady employment, so she lost everything one by one. “My job lost. I lost my apartment. I lost my car. I couldn’t function at work that much anymore, so I had to go. I became homeless. I was depressed. I was crying most of the time. I didn’t know what to do.”
Then, with a little help from her siblings — and the support of friends like you — Maria came to Sulzbacher and found the warm welcome she needed. In addition to food and a safe place to stay, Maria also received the healthcare necessary to determine what she had been struggling with but couldn’t identify: schizophrenia. And with proper medication, she feels much more in control.
Maria has a ways to go yet, but she’s finally on a more hopeful path. “I like the people here,” she says. “I don’t talk too much, but I like talking to them.”
Thank you for helping your neighbors find the path to a better future!
