2023 FAMILIES
The 2023 CPBC Families
This year the Chicago Polar Bear Club is honored to support three amazing families.
Read on for their inspiring stories below, including details on how your support for the CPBC will each of help these families look forward to a bright future in 2023, and beyond.
(1) The Garcia Family
Meet Eva, Arturo Jr, Octavio, McKayla, Alex, and Hazel Garcia
In 2018, Eva Garcia received a phone call that we all fear: There had been an accident, and her husband had passed away that evening.
In an instant, everything changed for Eva, a mother of 4 children, who was 7 months pregnant with her fifth.
Her husband, Arturo, who passed away, had worked to support the family financially while Eva stayed home caring for the children. But now, Eva, as a widow, had to find a way to do both, all on her own.
Since that day, she has done everything she can to take care of her family – working 3 jobs at a time, sometimes 18 hours/day (on top of all of her duties as mother) – but that’s no longer enough. Her jobs don’t pay adequate wages to cover the needs of her and her children, and the family has fallen more and more behind on their bills and monthly expenses – utilities, rent, medical bills, day-care, etc.
On top of these financial challenges, the family has also experienced multiple medical challenges. They have outstanding medical debt from the husband’s car accident, and several ongoing health issues in the family: The oldest son, Arturo Jr, is anemic and has a bone disorder causing brittle bones, which will eventually require surgery. The second oldest son, Octavio, has asthma and was recently hospitalized with RSV. While the family has health insurance that covers most of their medical bills, they are still spending $500-$600/month out-of-pocket across day-care, asthma inhalers and other medications for the children.
Despite all of her best efforts, the challenges eventually added up to too much, and in October 2022, Eva and her children were evicted from their apartment. They were forced to move out with only 5 days notice. They were able to quickly put their belongings in storage, and have found 1 bedroom at a friend’s house as temporary accommodations, but that unfortunately is not a long term solution for the family of 6. This move also resulted in the oldest son, Arturo Jr, having to stay with his grandparents – away from his immediate family. Though this is truly unfortunate, Eva is more determined than ever to find a larger place for her family, reunite them under one roof, and support her children across their many needs - large and small. She just needs a little help to make it all happen.
How you, and the CPBC, can help
With your help, we have a real opportunity to help the Garcia family. All donations will help provide financial support to assist with rent and expenses for basic needs (including healthcare). This will help bridge the gap until Eva finds a better job, which will then let her seek out a larger apartment that can bring her family together, back under one roof. Eva can already feel the warmth of a home with her family back together – and with your help, we can make that happen even sooner.
(2) The CANTAVE Family
Meet Gill, Lebia, DJ, and Noa Cantave
DJ Cantave is an incredibly smart 15-year-old who lives with his dad, Gill, his stepmom, Lebia, and his 8-year-old stepsister, Noa. DJ has always loved music, dancing, board games and video games; and he has always been extremely outgoing and friendly. DJ is sweet, polite and people are naturally drawn to him.
When DJ was 7 years old, he suddenly started having double-vision and headaches. This led to several doctor’s appointments, and an ultimate diagnosis of craniopharyngioma – a rare type of non-cancerous brain tumor. Treatment started immediately, and included surgery to drain fluid from the brain and remove as much of the tumor as possible. Despite the surgeon’s best efforts, not all of the tumor could be removed, which meant a second surgery was required.
During the second surgery, DJ had a stroke that has and will continue to have lasting implications. He now has muscle weakness in his foot (“drop foot”) and arm which makes it difficult to complete many everyday tasks, like eating, getting dressed, etc. This has been hard for DJ (and his family), especially because over the past 2 years, he has only spent 3-4 months living at home, total. He was last home in March 2022, and has been living in the hospital since.
These physical challenges have been hard for DJ and his family to adapt to, but they’ve found a way. DJ continues to have a positive outlook on life, and Gill and Lebia are doing everything they can to help with his ongoing care and recovery. As of today, DJ is able to walk, but typically requires a walker or a wheelchair. Therefore, DJ needs additional therapy to ensure he is as independent as physically possible. The family is currently waiting for a room to open up in a local rehabilitation center, with the hope that DJ will spend the next year living in the facility and receiving daily rehab. With rehabilitation, DJ is hopeful to re-enroll in high school and take his place as a sophomore.
On top of the physical challenges, DJ’s care has also come with significant financial challenges. Though Gill and Lebia have both recently started new jobs, the scope of DJ’s care needs makes it difficult to get by. In the near-term, there are the costs of rehab. After that, the costs of modifying the house to make it handicap accessible, and the need for a larger wheelchair-friendly vehicle to transport DJ to-and-from his many medical appointments. And in the long-term, DJ will require in-home nursing care. This will ensure DJ gets the care he needs, but it is expensive, so it will be necessary for Gill and Lebia to maintain their jobs, once DJ moves back home.
How you, and the CPBC, can help
With your help, we can help relieve some of the many financial stresses facing the Cantave family. With this year’s donations and fundraising, we can help cover costs associated with DJ’s rehab, in-home medical care, and transportation needs. DJ and the Cantave family envision a future where DJ has finished rehab and is graduating high school with his friends – let’s help them get there.
(3) The Meeks Family
Meet Helen and her son, Latrell
Latrell is an amazing 9-year old – he takes his school work seriously, gets good grades, and loves his mom more than anything in the world. Unfortunately, the last few years have been hard for Latrell, and his mother, Helen, but they are dedicated and determined to making it work.
However, during the first few months this year (2022) they were hit with a perfect storm of bad news: Helen had lost her job due to cutbacks related to the COVID19 pandemic, and the two of them were houseless as a result. On top of this, Latrell started feeling off - what started as just feeling low energy, eventually got worse. It wasn’t long before he could only take a few steps before needing to stop and sit down. Helen feared it was a case of COVID19, but in February 2022, when Latrell collapsed and had to be taken to the emergency room, they found that it was not COVID, but something much worse: Latrell had cancer; specifically, High Risk B-Cell ALL (Leukemia). This news would change their lives.
It was a horrible diagnosis, but one that came with hope: There were therapies available, and as long as the treatment went well for the next ~2.5 years, Latrell has a chance at a long life. And despite this bad news, a few things were looking up: Helen was able to find subsidized housing and also secured a new job that would allow her to continue to work, while balancing being Latrell’s primary caregiver.
Latrell’s therapy began right away, and is complicated, difficult, and often painful: He has to have a permanent IV port accessed each time he is in clinic (typically once a week), gets spinal taps, MRIs, and other procedures routinely and his treatments make him susceptible to infection, and risk sepsis (blood infections). Getting treated is a good thing, but it often doesn’t feel that way The treatments are hard and leave Latrell feeling drained, and very ill, despite the long term goal of feeling better.
For Helen, it’s hard to see her son go through such a difficult set of treatments, and also hard to manage Latrell’s healthcare needs with her need to work to support the two of them. Safe and reliable childcare is difficult for Helen to find, and she often must take time off of work to help care for him when he is sick.
Helen and Latrell are described by all those around them as dedicated and determined. They draw strength from one another, and are both incredibly brave through these difficult times. Latrell is smart, and despite all he is going through, continues to excel at school.
How you, and the CPBC, can help
Latrell and Helen have been dealt a tough hand, but with your help we can help this family breathe a little easier. Helen is doing everything she can for her family, and so by helping to ease the burden of keeping up with monthly bills and worrying about paying off debt, we can help Latrell and his mom focus on his treatment and recovery. By helping provide Helen the opportunity to utilize trusted childcare, she can continue to balance work alongside Latrell’s card. The next couple of years won’t be easy for either of them, but with your support, we can help them make it through, together.