10 Times People's Lives Were Changed for Less than $500

With even a small donation, you can help break the cycle of poverty. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the 10 Times People’s Lives Were Changed for Less than $500. For this list, we’ll be looking at a variety of inspiring true stories in which everyday individuals and families found themselves in need of financial assistance to get through an unexpected hardship. At ModestNeeds.org, a crowdfunding model enables donors to directly act as agents of positive change, regardless of how much or little they can spare. And as each of these unique cases prove, such small acts of charity, kindness and compassion have the power to fundamentally alter the lives of others for the better. #10: A Car Deductible & a Big Reveal $250 In 2019, a Baltimore man applied for emergency funding to help cover the cost of the deductible for a car repair. Having recently taken time off work for mental health reasons, he couldn’t afford both the deductible and his rent, and so he was at risk of being evicted and/or losing his means of getting to work. On top of everything else, he and his partner had recently welcomed a son into the world. A Peer Recovery Coach, this is a man who has dedicated his life to helping others, and now, he found himself in need of a little assistance in kind. After hearing his story, donors quickly sprang to action. $250 was all it took to stop this potentially devastating financial issue in its tracks. But there’s more to the story! It turns out that the manager at the garage was actually running a scam where they’d refuse payment in order to charge storage fees off-books. So not only was the applicant’s life changed, but also future customers at the garage were saved from going through a similarly abusive experience. #9: A Home for a Veteran & His Family $477.72 In 2013, a man submitted an application to Modest Needs looking for help with his mortgage payment. As it quickly became clear, this is an individual who has always put the safety, happiness and well-being of others first. He served his country overseas as a marine, but since returning home, he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Though he found himself in a position few people can even begin to imagine, his only concern was providing for his four children and wife; unfortunately, the addition of medical bills was making this an impossible task. The mortgage payment in question, which donors put together emergency funding to cover, came in at a total of $477.72. For that relatively small amount, this veteran and his family were able to avoid the imminent foreclosure with which they were being threatened, and he was able to remain in his home with his family. #8: Keeping the Lights on While Changing Jobs $480 Balancing a career with raising a child is never easy, especially when you’re doing it alone. For this single mother, her job as a Fire Department dispatcher meant long nights and frequent overtime, which didn’t allow her nearly enough time with her 6 year old son. Unfortunately, what’s best for a family and what’s easy rarely go hand-in-hand, and she ultimately found herself out of work for a number of months. To make matters worse, the utility company hit her with a substantial “balance owed” at the end of the year’s equalized payment plan. And just like that, a precarious situation became a potentially catastrophic one. Thanks to the $480 put together by donors, she and her son were able to keep the electricity and heat on while they continued their journey towards a better, balanced life. #7: Communication Software for a Child with Autism $372 In 2003, a mother sought financial assistance to purchase software for her three year old son. In addition to being on the autism spectrum, he was also struggling with a number of other serious medical conditions. Being non-verbal, her son was using a Picture Exchange Communication System (or PCES) to communicate his needs. But with only 10 cards, his communication was very limited. This mother of two was dealing with not one, but two children being in and out of hospital while also juggling bills and continuing her full-time college studies, where she was somehow still managing to maintain a 4.0 GPA. And all she was asking for? A computer program that would allow her to produce more of these cards and improve her son’s quality of life. For just $372, donors were able to not only give her son the ability to better communicate, but also provided this mother with a much-needed win. #6: Rent During a Woman’s Recovery $160 There are many organizations out there to help individuals in need. But each program has its limitations. Too often, people in need wind up falling between the gaps that exist between various organizations and their mandates. While this woman was recovering from brain surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, she literally could not work and so she asked for help to pay her rent for just one month. In this woman’s case, subsidized housing already covered almost all of her rent; the operative word there, unfortunately, is “almost”. The remaining balance owed? $16. It’s an insignificant amount, but for this woman, that was the difference between a comfortable apartment and becoming homeless. So donors did one better - they covered rent for 10 months so she could focus on her health. #5: A Test Fee for a Better Future $40 When you’re in a financially stable position, it can be hard to comprehend just how much value a small amount of money can represent. In the case of this disabled war veteran from Escondido, California, $40 was the magic number. Due to an overpayment of educational benefits awarded to her years ago, her income was being heavily garnished, leaving her with little to live off of. After rent, utilities and groceries, there was essentially nothing left. And unfortunately, her situation fell through the cracks of conventional financial assistance. Donors covered the modest fee she needed to pay, she passed her test, and was able to renew her CA Notary Public commission. As of her last update, she was well on her way to USD paralegal certification and the job opportunities that such training creates. #4: A Pair of Pink Shoes & the Gift of Being Able to Walk $90 It goes without saying, but access to medical care is far from equal around the world. And so this young girl’s family, who were already quite poor in their native country, uprooted their lives and came to America in order to get her the help she needed for her medical conditions - which include cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Since coming to America, she’d already received a customized brace that would allow her to walk, but this expensive piece of equipment was going unused because she was missing something far more basic - a pair of shoes. But her parents, having exhausted their finances coming from Africa to get her treatment in America, simply couldn’t buy them. Thanks to a social worker who reached out, she got not one, but two pairs for just $90 - and the ability to stand on her own two feet. #3: Emergency Funding for a Veteran & His Family $285 By the time this man from Mountlake Terrace, Washington reached out for assistance, the situation was already dire, and the help was needed immediately. A veteran working as a handyman, he found himself in something a dry spell in terms of jobs, transforming an already tight financial situation into a problem. And when the landlady ended his work-for-partial rent arrangement without warning, he and his family were hit with demand for a substantial amount of back rent, resulting in their eviction. Suddenly, this veteran, his wife and dog were homeless, living out of their car. The $285 put forward by donors was enough to put him and his family in a hotel for 4 nights, the gap between his eviction and the temporary housing he had lined up. Without assistance, who knows what might have happened to this family. But because they got a bit of help when they needed it, they were able to get back on their feet and eventually find a new permanent home. #2: A Car Repair to Avoid a Familiar Fate $358.90 There’s nothing quite like having already experienced homelessness to make you appreciate just how easy it is to wind up there again. This woman and her children were without a place to live for five whole months, but through hard work and perseverance they were able to get an apartment. Unfortunately, they were barely making ends meet, and then a downturn in the economy saw her house cleaning work dry up. Though this hardworking mother managed to get a job as a driving instructor, her car was in such desperate need of repair, she was at risk of not being able to get to work. And so people came together to pay the $358.90 needed for repairs and, in doing so, helped this woman continue the forward progress that she’s been making for her family and their overall quality of life. #1: The Gift of Sight $557 We’re going a bit over budget for this last entry. But as all these stories have shown, oftentimes, it’s that little bit extra that can make all the difference in the world. In 2002, a mother applied to Modest Needs looking for help to buy corrective lenses for her son, who has Scotopic Sensitivity Irlen's Syndrome. Given that he’s on the austistic spectrum, the child’s vision carries with it that much more weight, and his visual impairment was not only affecting his ability to learn to read, but also his social and behavioral development. His mother only asked for help with the $50 down payment, but donors quickly funded the full cost of $557. What most donors didn’t realise until after the fact, however, was just how severely SSIS had been affecting his vision. Without the lenses, his brain could not process shapes, and so when he put them on, he was in fact finally able to see his mother properly for the first time in his life. For only a little over $500, this child’s life was forever changed. If you’d like to help fundamentally change people’s lives for the better, or learn more about just how big of an impact even small donations can make, please visit ModestNeeds.org.