Faces of The Fellowship: Suissa
The Fellowship | December 23, 2020
When we met Suissa, she was wearing a face mask to protect from the virus, but you could still see the tears in her eyes as she told her story. Suissa, a mother of four girls and successful business woman, never thought she’d be one of the participants in The Fellowship’s new Solidarity Fund, or “Arvoot Hadidit,” aiding those hit hardest by the crisis by providing basic needs. But when COVID-19 came and the lockdowns devastated businesses and entrepreneurship, and she found herself in a position that is completely unfamiliar to her.
This year, she couldn’t work, and her husband lost his job renovating corporate estates. These jobs became impossible due to the quarantine limitations, and she says this “period of time was a really scary one.” They had to delay their mortgage just to survive. She told her girls that they had to make use of the things they already had. No new clothes, no new shoes, nothing extra.
Help from The Fellowship arrived just in time. Suissa says, “I can tell you that I spent it on basic needs like food, laundry detergent, toilet paper.” Like all of us, their plans have been changed or canceled. One of the girls was supposed to celebrate her bat mitzvah with the whole family, but it was celebrated at home with their immediate family members.
Even with all the hardship, Suissa does hold on to hope: “Those who make it to the other side of the crisis will be much stronger than ever before,” she says.