This woman called me and asked me if she could donate some spices to the ministry. I said, “Yes, we use those in the kitchen for our feeding program. It will save us the considerable cost to purchase them, and donations are not what they used to be prior to COVID.” When she dropped them off, she asked if she could volunteer and then proceeded to share her life story.
She was raised in Englewood. Born with a spinal disorder, she wears a brace on her right leg. Raised by a mentally abusive father, she also had a brother that sexually abused her. She struggled through life because her physical disability and her education as a disabled young person in that era limited the work that she could do.
Rahima is a 72-year-old woman with a great attitude and a radiant glow that will light up a room. She says what happened to her in the past were life lessons. “My goal is to share my story and what little resources I have to help struggling people understand that there are people out there who care about them and the challenges they are going through. That’s why I want to volunteer at Shepherd’s Hope and THE CENTER of Englewood because you are one of the few organizations who care and live it. And to show how much I believe in the organizations here, I want to volunteer and also donate $80 of my $160 in food stamps every month to purchase needed spices for The Feeding Center. Besides all of this, she walks four blocks with the brace on her leg to volunteer 3 days a week at the food pantry.
