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Angela, 31, is preparing to move to Utah sometime in late 2020 with her husband and four children.
It was never part of the family’s plan to leave Hawaii, where she and her husband grew up, but they do not have a choice.
“We are forced to go. Otherwise, we would be homeless,” she said.
Angela, who did not want her last name or the names of her family members used, said her husband’s family — with whom they live — is moving to Utah. The whole household plans to relocate.
Soon after her youngest child was born in 2017, the family had to move in with her husband’s grandparents in their six-bedroom Mililani house to afford raising their children.
“I couldn’t pay the apartment — the electricity, plus I had my three kids in the A+ (after school) program that I had to pay for and had to try to afford a babysitter, and it was something I just couldn’t afford it with my income,” she said. “I could not afford it all.”
Though multiple families live under the same roof, Angela said her family, which occupies two rooms, has enough space to feel comfortable.
Still, having their own home is preferable.
“We do desire to be able to raise our children on our own, to be the only adults telling our children what to do,” she said.
But it’s baby steps first, because as a full-time nursing student, working part-time as a medical assistant, Angela said it has been difficult keeping up financially as it is.
Her husband, 33, has been experiencing worsening back problems that has made work difficult, if not impossible.
“He couldn’t even carry our newborn from when he was born, because he wasn’t allowed to carry even 10 pounds,” she said. “If he does, he’s the one who suffers in pain, so (for) a lot of the raising of our youngest, he wasn’t able to be as hands on as he was with the other three.”
Angela said it was after two work accidents — one when he fell back into a hole as a laborer and another when he slipped while climbing a ladder on a truck a few years later — when it became an issue.
She said he continued to fight through the pain, but it got so bad that he temporarily had to use a wheelchair. “He did try several jobs, but it was just too strenuous on his back, and he was consistently in pain,” she said.
Angela’s youngest, a son who turns two years old today, recently had pneumonia and was having seizures, so the last few months have been especially difficult.
Her husband, who had been trying to cope with the pain through physical therapy and other pain management help to minimize the need for prescription drugs, said surgery had not been an option until recently. What has become intolerable pain — coupled with a newer, less invasive surgery with a higher success rate — made the surgery more attractive. Angela said it may happen in May or June.
She is also looking to finish school after one more semester, and although her husband’s recovery will take another six months to a year, if things go according to plan, the family will be back on track financially and healthy in the next year or so.
She also wants the family to move back to Hawaii when possible. They enjoy the beach, she said, and her husband taught her two older children, 11 and 12, how to dive.
For now, though things are difficult and uncertain, Angela has a positive outlook about the situation.
“Sometimes me and my husband talk about it, and we don’t know how we even manage it, but we’re getting along,” she said. “One thing we know we have is our family, and that is what is most important to us, but we’re chugging along.”
Today is her youngest son’s third birthday.
Family
Angela’s family of six enjoys going to the beach and has a religious background. She said they try to go to the beach at least once a month, but they stay at home on Sundays so they can go to church.
Wish list
>> For Angela: towels, frying pan, clothes, laptop and church dress (L/XL women or juniors for shirts and dresses; 15 juniors for pants; 9 women for shoes)
>> For her husband: car wash supplies, shoes and dress pants (2XL men for shirts; 40 men for pants; 13 men for shoes)
>> For her 12-year-old daughter: makeup, clothes, bike, arts and crafts, Hawaiian bracelet (M/L women or juniors for shirts and dresses; 10 women for shoes)
>> For her 10-year-old son: boogie board, bike, diving mask and fins, laptop, clothes, hoverboard (S men for shirts; 30 men for pants; 9 men for shoes)
>> For her 8-year-old daughter: clothes, bike, tea set, makeup, arts and crafts, Hawaiian bracelet (L girls for shirts and dress; 10/12 girls for pants; 6 girls for shoes)
>> For her 2-year-old son: clothes, educational toys, power wheels (3T for shirts; 3T for pants; 3 toddler for shoes)
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HOW TO HELP
To donate to Angela’s family in particular, use the Family Code: LT-WIN-6
>> At the bank: Donations are accepted at First Hawaiian Bank locations through Dec. 31.
>> Online: Go to helping handshawaii.org and click on the “donate” button to make a gift via PayPal. Specify “Good Neighbor Fund.”
>> By mail: Send a check payable to “Good Neighbor Fund” to Helping Hands Hawaii, 2100 N. Nimitz Highway, Honolulu, HI 96819. Attention: Good Neighbor Fund.
>> Donations of goods: Drop them off at the address above.
>> Call: 440-3800
>> Email: aaf@helpinghandshawaii.org
