NEWS AND VIEWS (COMMENT): Ruth Van Heel, 60, ran out of money because she decided to give up her job to enable her to look after her dying parents. In addition to that financial burden the Covid pandemic also impacted her finances to the point where she had to try and find a shelter where she could live. The trouble is she loves her two cats too much. No, you can’t love cats too much but in her situation and under the circumstances she found herself you can love cats too much because you can’t get into a shelter if you’re looking after two cats. And to Ruth, her cats are her babies and they are everything to her. She gave up the possibility of living in a shelter because of her cats and ended up living in her car for many months in Chicago parking lots.
Her ordeal ended, people will be pleased to know, when she parked outside a job agency called Aerotek where, by God’s good grace, one of the employees noticed that Ruth was living in her car and through her concern mentioned it to her boss, Katie Murawski. Katie reacted with tenderness and decency and decided to help. They took a liking to Ruth and just wanted to see her homed properly.
They brought food and blankets and books out to her and Katie shared her situation on Facebook. From that posting, Janine Marino got in touch. Janine fosters cats and she wanted to help. She spoke to Ruth and said that she would foster her two cats, Pumpkin and Puss. She said that she’d find an excellent home for them which must have been very, very difficult for Ruth to think about and come to terms with. But she did, and she gave up her cats with an extremely heavy heart no doubt.
But this allowed her to get into a shelter where I understand she is now and retraining to get back on her feet through a decent job. Although she said that she can barely understand why she had nowhere to go and that she woke up in the morning in her car with tears already in her eyes.
Source: Metro.co.uk who got it from CBS Chicago.
