Nestor Grullon

Pat Kelly

Piotr Kolodziej

Letitia Mingledolph

Gloria Rucobo

Raquel Rohlfing

PJ Schmidt

Carla Tardif

The Story of Raquel and Mikalo

All year round, Family Reach seeks to provide families who are fighting cancer with the financial support they need to keep going - to keep their homes, buy their groceries, and pay for basic necessities. During this holiday season, with the spirit of giving around us, we're spotlighting one of the many families we work with that need help.

Raquel's son Mikalo was just 18 months old in 2007 when he was first diagnosed with leukemia. When a routine checkup at the pediatrician yielded a positive blood test, Raquel - a 30-year-old single mom - found herself in a hospital emergency room that very same day, starting her toddler on an intensive, 26-month cycle of chemotherapy. The treatment included a month of in-patient care, followed by many more trips in and out of the hospital over the course of the next two years.

To accommodate the demanding, unpredictable schedule and give her son the attention he needed during treatment, Raquel quit her job almost immediately. Over the next several months, she and Mikalo lived on the small savings she had been able to set aside. When that money ran out, Raquel sold almost everything she had to keep going - including her car - to buy food, medicine, and clothes for the two of them. They soon lost their apartment and moved into a homeless shelter in Boston, where Raquel worried that the conditions were neither safe nor sanitary enough for her sick son.

Throughout the treatment, Mikalo stayed positive, keeping Raquel going with his bright smile, his playful attitude, and his kind spirit. After a grueling two years of treatment, he was back on track for good health. By March 2009, Mikalo had started a new school, and Raquel was able to go back to work. Though money was tight, Raquel continued to find ways to provide for Mikalo, scrimping and saving at every turn. But in October 2009, she received devastating news; Mikalo had relapsed, and the cancer was back. Once again, Raquel quit her job and moved Mikalo into the hospital for another month-long induction phase of treatment.

Through the hospital, Raquel was connected with Family Reach, which was able to raise the funds to provide Raquel and Mikalo with the security deposit and first month's rent for an apartment of their own. As they prepare to move in, Mikalo has been added to a transplant list, and faces up to a year of in-home isolation after the procedure is complete. Family Reach is continuing to help Raquel and Mikalo get settled by raising funds and accepting donations of gift cards that can help them buy anything from food and clothes to furniture for their new place, to educational toys and games that will keep Mikalo on track for first grade, when he'll be able to return to school.

"When you have a child, you have a vision for them - and I envision so much more for Mikalo," said Raquel. "I can't thank Family Reach enough for what they have done to help us get through this. Having a home of our own is such an important part of being able to create a nurturing environment for Mikalo, and helping him heal so he can finally experience a happy childhood and a normal life."

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