TOLEDO, Ohio — Many are struggling financially during the pandemic with losing their jobs and even their homes. We talked to a woman whose employer helped get her back on her feet.
"I just set my pride to the side and I told them I needed help and I was willing to get any help, any resources that they have for me," said Shamilla Mcintosh, an environmental service worker with ProMedica.
Shamilla is a single mother of four beautiful children and has been working with ProMedica for about six years. Like many others, she has struggled during the pandemic, balancing work and taking care of the kids while living out of her suitcase.
"I couldn't keep going from house to house, or sleeping in our car some nights, so I would just rather go to a shelter and make sure that we're safe. It wasn't for me, it was for my kids," explained Shamilla.
As a devoted mother, she was going to quit her job with ProMedica and move into a shelter to take care of her kids full time. But ProMedica wasn't going to lose one of their employees that easily.
"I told them my situation, and they were like no, we're not gonna let you do that. We're gonna figure out how we can help you," said Shamilla.
ProMedica helped Shamilla find shelter for her and her family. The shelter found a home where she can move in next week. On top of that, ProMedica also announce a wage increase to help out more of their employees during hard times.
"So ProMedica just announced this amazing wage increase up to $15 an hour for minimum wage which is amazing," said Michelle Gorsuch, Financial Center Opportunity Manager for ProMedica. "So it's not only gonna help Shamilla, but so many other ProMedica employees provide for their families and I'm just so excited about that."
As for Shamilla? She plans to go back to school to continue her journey with ProMedica.
"I'm going back to school to start my STNA classes in March, so that's another different step that I'm trying to do, to do something different to make more money, to show my kids that you work hard, that there's other things out there that you can do besides being out on the streets," said Shamilla.