Operation Holiday: Night shift makes holidays hard for single mom

When Josey got sick near the beginning of the year, it meant she could not work caring for clients at home, so she lost her job.

"I got a job later in the year working at a day care, but I didn't like it, so I'm back doing home care," she said recently.

But Josey gets paid through her client's health insurance and when the client has a lot of doctor's appointments, like the one she has now, the insurance pays the doctor's office, not Josey, whose name has been changed here to protect her privacy.

So to get paid, that means Josey has to work nights these days, which gets tricky when you have four kids at home — an 8-year-old girl and three boys ages, 6, 5 and 3.

A single mom, Josey is lucky in that her sister can watch her kids, but Josey's sister has two children of her own, and another sister who recently moved in has 8 more.

So some nights, there are 14 children in one house and two adults to watch and feed them all.

"My sister used to work at night, so I would watch her kids during the day, but now I'm working nights and she works during the day so she is watching my kids," Josey explained.

Either way, there are not a lot of adults getting a full night's sleep in either household.

"My mother had six children and now they all have children, so when we get together there are 23 grandkids," Josey said with a laugh. "It can get pretty hectic."

Add to that the fact that like so many crucial jobs, the pay for home care aides is not great, and holiday time can get a little tight.

"I can take care of my kids, and I am, but there is not a lot for extras," she said.

"My first paycheck goes to the bills, and part of the second check. Then the rest goes to things like clothes, shoes and food," she said.

Luckily, with three boys a lot of the clothing can be passed down, but despite the fact that her daughter likes to dress all girly, she also likes to play football with her brothers so, "things get dirty pretty quickly."

Last Christmas, Josey made use of free gifts given out by a local church to add to the few that she could buy for her children.

"I was able to get some things from the $5 Below store, so they had an OK Christmas," she said.

With the help of our readers, Josey's four children can have an even better Christmas this year.

Operation Holiday

Operation Holiday was started in 1991 at The Mercury in Pottstown to help families going through tough times provide something for their children during the holidays. The mission of the program is to make sure there is food on the table and gifts under the tree when Christmas morning comes.

Now in its 32nd year, the program has served thousands of families throughout Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties, expanding its reach in recent years to include communities served by Reading Eagle, The Times Herald, The Reporter, and Daily Local News.

More than $122,000 in donations last year provided food and gifts for 379 children and cash donations to 13 food pantries in Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties.

This year, Operation Holiday has partnered with 22 agencies in the tri-county area. Agencies have referred 144 families with 375 children for gifts and food and an additional 34 families for food. The eight families affected most by the explosion are an addition to those numbers.

There is no overhead with Operation Holiday and all funds stay local. Funds are collected and audited in a nonprofit foundation account managed by staff of MediaNews Group who volunteer their time.

Gift cards to area grocery stores are provided to each family for food so that they can purchase the fixings for a holiday dinner as well as staples for the pantry. Weis Markets is a partner with Operation Holiday and has assisted with food purchases and gift cards.

Gift cards for every child in the program 16 years of age or younger are purchased through Boscov's and distributed in partnership with the referring agencies so that families can purchase gifts of their choice.

Operation Holiday does not accept families who have not been referred by an agency.

Operation Holiday is funded solely by reader contributions. All contributions are tax-deductible.

How to donate

Online donations are being accepted in a secure portal in partnership with TriCounty Community Network. Visit https://tcnetwork.org/ and click on the link for Operation Holiday.

Contributions can be mailed with checks payable to Operation Holiday to PO Box 1181, Pottstown PA 19464; The Reporter, 307 Derstine Ave., Lansdale PA 19446; Operation Holiday, 1440 Lacrosse Ave., Reading, PA 19607.

The names of all contributors are published in the participating newspapers as donations are received. Please note whether a contribution should be designated as anonymous or given in tribute or in memory of someone.