A Local Family In Need

Hi Joe,

I am writing to you because I read your blog all the time and I know you do a lot of good works and reach a lot of people with the causes you champion.

There is a family that is in need of help right now and I thought you might be able to help with getting the word out.

Here is their story:

Tommy and Beth Phillips and their two children live in Fruitland. The children are now 10 and 12. About 7 years ago their son, Dustin, was diagnosed with cancer and had to have chemotherapy, his right hand was amputated and last year he had cancer on his tongue and the doctors had to remove 1/3 of his tongue. They have long since reached the maximum lifetime medical benefits of $1,000,000.00 and as a result they have to get insurance for him through the government. The only way to get that medical insurance is if they don’t make over a certain amount of money, as a result of all this, the mother had to quit her job, initially to be the primary caregiver to the child, and also because if she works then their son will not have any medical insurance. It is a terrible Catch 22.

They have tried to make the best of the situation and she is homeschooling the children. The salary that Tommy makes is budgeted to the penny for all their bills. They don’t have any extra money for anything. Last week we found out that they are really having a hard time right now. Tommy called a friend of ours last week asking for help. He had gotten a deer but didn’t have the money to take it to the butcher but he said they really needed the food. So, my husband and our friend helped Tommy butcher it so they wouldn’t be without food. We have helped them some but their needs are too great for us to make an impact. Just in the past few months they have had their heat pump go bad, the dryer died, their stove only has 1 burner that works and he had to get tires on his truck so that he could make it to work. As a result of the chemotherapy that Dustin had his baby teeth have never fallen out so his teeth are coming in all crooked. They have to have 11 teeth pulled at $100.00 per tooth. The insurance will not cover any of that, nor will it cover any portion of the braces that he needs. They said last weekend they had $22.00 leftover after they paid their bills and they got $10.00 in food and $12.00 in gas so he could get to work. They have to take Dustin to Johns Hopkins a few days after Christmas for a checkup and they don’t have the money for gas and parking for that. The list just goes on and on. They have had to declare bankruptcy and are 3 months behind in their mortgage payments.

These are good people that have had a rough time the last 7 years as a result of all the medical issues with their son. This could happen to any of us.

Joe, it would be a huge blessing if any of your readers could help this family out. I don’t know if there is a dentist out there that may be willing to donate their
services to this family to help out. It would be wonderful if anyone else would be able to help them out by monetary donations or gift cards for gas, grocery stores, Walmart, anything at this point would be a huge help to them.

If anyone can help them out they can mail their help to : Tommy and Beth Phillips, 104 Walden Drive, Fruitland MD 21826

Thanks for sharing this with everyone Joe.

Teresa H.