Hello,
Our names are Kristin and Leslie Stephens-Rima. We and our five children (Alyssa 23, Michael 20, Brianna 18, Cody 15 and Emma 12), live on a small family homestead farm in the Madera Ranchos area. Kristin is a veteran teacher who recently completed her 14th year in the classroom and Leslie is a stay at home mom who is getting ready to pursue a technical training program in the medical field this fall.
At the end of June, we felt safe enough to have a few extended family members from Los Angeles county come to stay for a weekend at our new home. We had moved in a few weeks earlier and desperately needed help getting settled in. We noticed right away that one of them was coughing through the evening. She assured us that she has allergies and that she had been self isolating as we were obviously concerned about the virus. A few days passed, and one by one we all began to feel off in some way or another. As time went on, our symptoms began to worsen. We decided to get tested for Covid-19 and hoped for the best.
Luckily, our oldest son was visiting friends when our family arrived and we had him stay there just in case. We had him get tested as well just in case and his test came back negative. Ours, on the other hand, came back positive. Six days after our visiting relatives arrived, eight of the nine of us were sick.
The virus took its toll on all of us in different ways. Our youngest two children did not have as hard a time as everyone else. They had minor cold-like symptoms with a low grade fever and felt almost back to normal within 4 days. Our 18 year old daughter, Brianna, had pretty severe symptoms that lingered for a few weeks, though she did not end up having to go to the emergency room for any type of treatment.
The adults in the home had it much worse, however. Symptoms were quite severe, and we ended up with four emergency room visits, and two of us had to stay in the hospital for more than a week each. Four of us ended up getting secondary pneumonia and had to take several medications and do breathing treatments every few hours, though, by the grace of God, none of us required ventilator at any point. We prayed that our oldest daughter would not get the virus, as she was staying in her room after her test came back negative, but once our relatives left and the rest of us were cleared, she tested positive and got just as sick as we had been.
Our relatives were forced to stay with us during the course of the virus, until they were cleared to travel home. When all was said and done, they ended up being in our home for 37 days to recover. Just having them for so much longer than planned put a financial strain on our family. Not only were we unable to leave our home, we couldn’t afford the large grocery bills and medication costs. To make matters worse, both Kristin and our son Michael were laid off work. Our single income household was left without an income.
We have all recovered for the most part at this point. The virus was brutal and has had many long lasting effects, both physically and emotionally, as well as financially. We were quarantined for a total of 9 weeks and have only recently begun to venture out of the house. With the exception of our daughter who is disabled, the adults in our home have all been desperately looking for work to make ends meet. Kristin has had many issues finding teaching jobs, due to all of the budget cuts and staff reductions owing to the crisis. Her income keeps our family afloat, and now we are struggling to make ends meet. This is the first time we've needed outside help for the first time since we became a family eleven years ago.
We currently need help with our rent for the month of September, along with several utility type bills, and the massive medical bills that came along with the virus. Anything helps, and we will always be thankful to our community for coming to our aid during what seems like the worst time of our lives.
Thank you and Stay Safe!
The Stephens-Rima Family
Kristin, Leslie, Alyssa, Michael, Brianna, Cody and Emma
Our names are Kristin and Leslie Stephens-Rima. We and our five children (Alyssa 23, Michael 20, Brianna 18, Cody 15 and Emma 12), live on a small family homestead farm in the Madera Ranchos area. Kristin is a veteran teacher who recently completed her 14th year in the classroom and Leslie is a stay at home mom who is getting ready to pursue a technical training program in the medical field this fall.
At the end of June, we felt safe enough to have a few extended family members from Los Angeles county come to stay for a weekend at our new home. We had moved in a few weeks earlier and desperately needed help getting settled in. We noticed right away that one of them was coughing through the evening. She assured us that she has allergies and that she had been self isolating as we were obviously concerned about the virus. A few days passed, and one by one we all began to feel off in some way or another. As time went on, our symptoms began to worsen. We decided to get tested for Covid-19 and hoped for the best.
Luckily, our oldest son was visiting friends when our family arrived and we had him stay there just in case. We had him get tested as well just in case and his test came back negative. Ours, on the other hand, came back positive. Six days after our visiting relatives arrived, eight of the nine of us were sick.
The virus took its toll on all of us in different ways. Our youngest two children did not have as hard a time as everyone else. They had minor cold-like symptoms with a low grade fever and felt almost back to normal within 4 days. Our 18 year old daughter, Brianna, had pretty severe symptoms that lingered for a few weeks, though she did not end up having to go to the emergency room for any type of treatment.
The adults in the home had it much worse, however. Symptoms were quite severe, and we ended up with four emergency room visits, and two of us had to stay in the hospital for more than a week each. Four of us ended up getting secondary pneumonia and had to take several medications and do breathing treatments every few hours, though, by the grace of God, none of us required ventilator at any point. We prayed that our oldest daughter would not get the virus, as she was staying in her room after her test came back negative, but once our relatives left and the rest of us were cleared, she tested positive and got just as sick as we had been.
Our relatives were forced to stay with us during the course of the virus, until they were cleared to travel home. When all was said and done, they ended up being in our home for 37 days to recover. Just having them for so much longer than planned put a financial strain on our family. Not only were we unable to leave our home, we couldn’t afford the large grocery bills and medication costs. To make matters worse, both Kristin and our son Michael were laid off work. Our single income household was left without an income.
We have all recovered for the most part at this point. The virus was brutal and has had many long lasting effects, both physically and emotionally, as well as financially. We were quarantined for a total of 9 weeks and have only recently begun to venture out of the house. With the exception of our daughter who is disabled, the adults in our home have all been desperately looking for work to make ends meet. Kristin has had many issues finding teaching jobs, due to all of the budget cuts and staff reductions owing to the crisis. Her income keeps our family afloat, and now we are struggling to make ends meet. This is the first time we've needed outside help for the first time since we became a family eleven years ago.
We currently need help with our rent for the month of September, along with several utility type bills, and the massive medical bills that came along with the virus. Anything helps, and we will always be thankful to our community for coming to our aid during what seems like the worst time of our lives.
Thank you and Stay Safe!
The Stephens-Rima Family
Kristin, Leslie, Alyssa, Michael, Brianna, Cody and Emma