With six children, managing a household budget is no small feat. Debi S. and her husband of Grandview, Mo. were barely managing. Debi’s husband works extremely long hours as a delivery driver all over the bi-state area. Her primary job is being a full-time parent, but she hustles every way she can to save money and provide opportunities for their kids.
“I’m on the board for little league football, so one of our kids can play for half-off, and I joined the quarterback club for our high school football player to help out with those costs,” Debi said. “And my daughters do competitive cheerleading. I help with administrative things for that, so their classes are free. We do what we can to make it all work.”
Even still, finding enough money to cover groceries, rent, utilities and other bills has often been a struggle. So the family enrolled in a year-long program with United Way of Greater Kansas City Impact 100 partner Grandview Assistance Program.
“It really helped us track and try to budget, so we could get back to taking care of everything ourselves,” Debi shared.
But this past year brought a whole new set of challenges.
“I actually found out I had a brain tumor in August 2024,” Debi said. “Thankfully, it was benign, so we weren’t worried about cancer. But it was sizeable. I had been to the doctor several times before it was found with the same symptoms, trying to figure out what it was. Once they finally figured it out after doing a CAT scan, and later an MRI, they told me I would need a pretty intensive surgery to remove it.”
Before the surgery was scheduled, Debi was dealing with severe headaches, nausea, dizziness and sinus issues. The operation was scheduled in February. It was a 20-hour operation and afterward, Debi was placed on restricted movement for three months. Her husband had to take time off work. Her mom came to help, but the bills—especially the winter heating bills, had really stacked up.
“We got so far behind that we got disconnection notices,” said Debi. “And the only way that that was something possible for us to maintain was the help we got from United Way.”
That help came in the form of a prepaid debit card, as part of an ongoing initiative United Way of Greater Kansas City is doing in partnership with 20 nonprofit partners. So far in the second phase of the program, more than $503,000 in financial support has been awarded through the effort to families just like Debi’s.
“I’m sure that there’s so many people in worse situations, but for the kids and my husband, this was probably the most serious situation we’d all been in,” Debi said. “Just to know that we don’t have to worry about that part—the gas bill is paid up, is amazing.”
With an extremely tight budget, Debi’s family rarely has the opportunity to spend quality time together. There was just enough money left over for the family of eight to take a trip to the zoo.
“That really meant a lot to us, especially after all we’ve gone through this past year,” Debi said. “We’re caught up. We’re good. But even now, it’s a struggle to keep things right.”
She’s thankful for the generous support from donors like you make financial support possible for families in their time of need.
“I don’t honestly think there’s enough words to say. I don’t know if people can really understand how much something like even a $5 donation from somebody—how much that can impact somebody else,” Debi said. “I am so thankful for the people that can help and don’t judge because it takes a lot for people to say they need help.”
If you’d like to pledge support to help United Way provide financial stability, head here.