While many single parent families face challenges, the daily
struggles that Leticia Gonzalez, 40, and her two children cope with
would be enough to intimidate the strongest-willed person. Escaping
a history of domestic violence, Gonzalez is the sole caretaker for
two small boys.
Morgan Hill
While many single parent families face challenges, the daily struggles that Leticia Gonzalez, 40, and her two children cope with would be enough to intimidate the strongest-willed person.
Escaping a history of domestic violence, Gonzalez is the sole caretaker for two small boys.
She struggles to sustain her family amidst Santa Clara County’s high costs of living, but that is not her greatest battle. Her youngest son, Leiver, 2, was born six weeks premature and has developmental and genetic disabilities. His mom often has to take him to the hospital because he is prone to respiratory issues and infections due to his underdeveloped lungs.
Because of his disabilities, he can’t drink fluids and must instead receive liquids and much of his nourishment through a tube in his stomach. Gonzalez must feed him at least four times a day, and each feeding can last one or two hours. His increased activity as he grows means he sometimes pulls out the tube, necessitating a visit to the emergency room.
Adding to her difficulties, Gonzales only speaks Spanish and is low income. She also doesn’t have a driver’s license. The small family is living in temporary housing and will need to find a new living situation in just a few months. She’s currently living in the John F. Boccardo Family Living Center, a transitional housing complex in San Martin.
She and her boys previously lived in a recreational vehicle, but cramped conditions made it hard to care for Leiver. His medical condition may have been aggravated due to the lack of protection that the vehicle offered against the weather.
Because she is dependent upon public transportation and taxi services through the county Outreach program, transportation expenses put a serious strain on their already limited resources. Leiver must receive physical therapy several times a week and his condition requires frequent trips to the clinic and hospital. A recent emergency trip to San Jose cost the family more than $100 in transportation expenses.
Gonzalez’s eldest son, Joshua, 5, is starting kindergarten. An active, healthy boy, he sometimes does not understand all the attention his mother must give his younger brother.
His behavior can be challenging at times. Through Community Solutions’ FIRST 5 Home Visitation Program, Gonzalez has received some parenting assistance and school readiness support, but the family’s basic needs are taking a heavy toll on their lives.
“Leticia has gone through so much in her life; I’m amazed that she is so strong,” says Fatima, Joshua’s former home visitor from Community Solutions. “She just keeps going and does the best she can for her children and doesn’t give up.”
Though Leticia has some connections through her church, she has no family in the area to turn to for outside support.
Assistance with a few of the family’s basic needs would ease the burden for Gonzalez. She has a vehicle that she might be able to drive if she can get her license, but she can’t afford driving lessons. Support to help pay for this and related transportation expenses could provide her with a convenient and cost-effective means of transporting Leiver to his appointments. Until she is able to get her license, however, the family could also benefit from taxi vouchers to use for Leiver’s doctor appointments.
Basic needs assistance would have a huge impact on the family’s life. Gonzalez occasionally runs out of the Pedi-Sure liquid nutrition she needs to feed Leiver. Pedi-Sure is very expensive, and Leiver needs large quantities of it to help sustain his nourishment. Assistance with this and other food expenses would help conserve their limited resources.
But Gonzalez’s biggest concern, she said, is finding a home for her boys and filling it with furniture.
“What we have now, it is nice, but it all stays here,” she said, referring to the furniture in the temporary shelter. “When we find a new home, I have nothing to put in it.”
Limited income and the high cost of rent in the South County will make it difficult for Gonzalez to find housing. Because of Leiver’s condition, the family needs to be near medical facilities, and his home needs to be more germ-free than a typical communal living situation would be. Housing assistance would be a blessing, she said.
HOW TO HELP
To help Leticia Gonzalez’s family contact Community Solutions at (408) 779-2113. The family needs the following:
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Taxi vouchers
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Money for driving lessons
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Help finding/funding housing
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Furniture for single family with two children
