After borrowing money from her sister to make her July mortgage payment, Sharon Jansen knew there was no one left to tap.
Two weeks ago came a certified letter threatening foreclosure on the house she's owned for 13 years.
To care for her seven-year-old daughter Claire, Jansen had lost her job as a bookkeeper more than a year ago. Claire has chronic lung trouble, the kind of disease that keeps her out of places she might catch a cold, places such as school.
"A cold puts her in the hospital for weeks," said Jansen. Yale New Haven Hospital is where Claire spent the first twenty months of her life.
"Things are looking up for her and then unfortunately the rest of our world is falling apart," said Jansen.
But by the time the foreclosure letter arrived, a fundraiser was in the works to help Jansen get the $6600 she needed to avoid foreclosure.
Last Saturday, the fundraiser was a success. The figures aren't in yet on how much money was donated, but more than enough money came from towns across Connecticut to the Milford Special Education PTA.
"Many, many people, they're doing it out of the goodness of their heart and they want to remain anonymous and I can respect and understand that," said Jansen. "But I'd like to give each and every one of them a big hug."
"I just hope they get to see who Claire is," she said.
Claire had her most recent surgery Tuesday, to remove the feeding tube she's lived with almost since birth. She can't hear or speak, but next week she's going to be fitted for hearing aids.
Susan St. Pierre of the SEPTA hopes there's enough money to cover the mortgage payments til April, when if all goes well, Claire can go to school and Jansen can go back to work.
