Gift of Warmth: After lifetime as a nursing assistant, 80-year-old needed help with heat

ROCHESTER — Eighty-year-old Phyllis Parcel lives on a $900 monthly Social Security benefit, which doesn't leave any room for emergency expenses.

So when an emergency came, she turned for help to the Community Action Partners of Strafford County.

"I became a widow when I was 48," said Parcel. "I worked my whole life. I was a CNA (certified nursing assistant) for 30 years. I worked in a lot of nursing homes, caring for others."

Parcel said there came a time when she couldn't manage the physical aspects of caring for patients, things like lifting them from beds to chairs or showers. 

"I had to stop working," she said. "Then I couldn't make ends meet. I talked with people at my church and they asked if I had ever heard of community action. I was living in Milton at the time. I had to sell my home and I bought my trailer in Rochester. It's not as nice, but it serves my purposes."

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Parcel went to CAP in 2018 after undergoing surgery for what might have been lung cancer. Luckily it wasn't, but she said her recovery is not going well. 

"I have a hard time keeping up with the house now," she said. "I get tired."

Parcel applied for help. Now community action helps her with fuel assistance and they helped her with a program to assist with her utility bills. 

"I have been asking for help to insulate the trailer and finally this year they did it," she said. "It is warmer in here and it should help with the bills. I don't know what I would have done without the good people at community action."

Parcel said she can't say enough about how kind the community action people have been to her. 

"People say, apply online," she said. "Well most people my age do not have a computer, and if we did, we wouldn't know how to use it. I had to go see them, and they were wonderful. They were very, very nice and they don't treat you like you are asking for help. They understand and they sympathize. As I waited, I watched how they treated people and how quick they are to help. It is so heartening to see. People come in for the food bank and leave with food to feed their family. People ask why I don't go to the food banks. I say - I have food, so leave it for those who need it."

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How to donate

The way the Gift of Warmth program works is simple, and comes from the heart. Each week, Seacoast Media Group shares the story of one person or family that received help from the Rockingham or Strafford community action programs. This allows readers to know the real needs of the real people their Gift of Warmth contributions, of whatever amount, help to address.

Donations are gratefully accepted, and will be distributed among the two CAP programs for them to make a real difference in real lives.

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This year, we ask that checks donated to Gift of Warmth be made out directly to either Rockingham Community Action or the Community Action Program of Strafford County. Please write “Gift of Warmth” in the check memo line to ensure the money goes for fuel assistance.

Checks should be mailed to Gift of Warmth, Seacoast Media Group, 111 New Hampshire Ave., Portsmouth, NH, 03801. We will tally the checks, record the names of each week’s contributors and then forward the checks on to the two county community action programs. Each week throughout the campaign, Seacoast Media Group will publish that week’s donors. Again, please make the checks out to either the Rockingham Community Action Program or the Community Action Partnership of Strafford County and write Gift of Warmth in the memo line.

If you need help

To apply for fuel assistance, call Rockingham Community Action at (603) 431-2911. People experiencing any significant hardship or financial crisis can also call and they will be referred to the appropriate person. For more information, visit snhs.org. 

For Community Action Partnership of Strafford County, call (603) 435-2500 or visit straffordcap.org.

This week’s donations bring total to $45,255

This week's contributors are:

Ruth Kane, $100

Stuart Howell, $500

Eileen Black & R.W. Waddington, $50

Constance Abell & Steven Cash, $100

Eileen & William Sutherland, $500

Anonymous, $15

Lynne & Mark Muscato, $100

Justin Hanna, $200

Elizabeth Murphy, $100

Barbara & Gerald Ward, $100

Anonymous, $200

Jerry Dionne & Ramona Dow, $200

Jay & Mary-Pat Gibson, $500

Donald & Ethel Murphy, $500

Erin Rafferty & Kevin Renna, $500

Bo Jo Ellen Thomas, $250

Pamela Caswell, $50

Edith & Thomas Regan, $100

Bourque Family Revocable Trust, $100

Mary Foley, $100

Anonymous, $100

Janet Taylor, $100

In memory of Irene Malloy, $25

In memory of Chris Barnes - Mom and Dad, $200

Marie & Richard Wilder, $100

Anonymous, $50

Anonymous, $25

Jon & Kathy Ross, $100

Brian & Stacey Smith, $100

Diane & Antonio Marino, $100

Janet & Michael McCann, $150

In memory of cousin Sandy Shambo, $100

Stephanie Marshall & Jim Breeling, $100

Shane & Heath Bingham, $100

David Panek & Barbara Van Buskirk, $300

Debra Chase, $100

Andrea & William Leahy, $100

Eleanor & Richard Hugo, $50

Elfriede Hanley, $150

Christine Cahill, $200

Michelle Tyminski, $50

Glenn & Joan Hammond, $300

Anonymous, $50

Cynthia & Michael Harvell, $100

John & Shirley O'Leary, $100

Donald & Helen Clement, $100

Marie Twomey & Paul Moyer, $100

Bradley & Sally Stevens, $150

Anonymous, $1,000

David & Sue Allen, $100

Marla & William Hickey, $150

Virginia Bridle, $100

Anonymous, $50

Ginny & Bill Shea, $200

In loving memory of Catherine Nims Swett, $50

Laura Koulet, $250

Jennifer & Peter Clark, $100

In memory of Adam Pesaresi, $200

Wendy Kessler & William Bland, $100

Barbara & Scott Simundza, $50

The Swartz Family Foundation, $2,400

In honor of Steve, Leslie, Dave, Tara, and Melissa Graziano and Donovan Breunig, $150

Chester Riley, $100

Anonymous, $1,000

Laurie & Mike Steinberg, $250

Anonymous, $50

Leon & Martha Croteau, $100

Patricia Wood, $100

Joan & Paul Stowe, $100

Eileen & William Sutherland, $500

S.J. Sturgeon, $25

Philip & Sylvia Pelletier, $50

Anonymous, $250