Freed From Debt, a Hair Stylist Looks to a Brighter Future

Date: 11/20/07

Running out of money? Where do you go? Who do you turn to? A young woman, Aurea Casellas turned to Children's Aid Society who helped put her life back together. This is simply a story of a struggling single mother trying to make ends meet. She already has two daughters, one 18 another 4 years old. She is living in Harlem, and working as a an assistant at a hair salon only making $200.00 to support her family. She also had $270.00 of food stamps until her oldest daughter, Shauna stopped going to her G.E.D and cut it off. She was losing hope.

She started to fall behind on her bills and rent. As her years followed, being pregnant at 15 years old gave her the major experience. The father became involve with the law. She lost many opportunities down the road but then she found hope. She found someone, Ms. Penberg at a program and mentioned her debt situation. Ms. Penberg told her to apply the Children's Aid Society from the Neediest Cases Fund. She received a grant and became debt free. With that out of that, she gained her confidence back and is now a stylist at Jolie Femme and no more sweeping up trims of hair.

This article just surprised me because it's one of those aspiring pieces you come across to get some encouragement. It's not so newsworthy but I liked how the public is still able to focus on helping others. We all need a helping hand once here and there. The Children's Aid Society/Neediest Cases Fund is also provided by the New York Times. The New York Times helped this young lady out and that just shows how much more people need a hand to pull out of their black hole.