Supporting Families in Need: Julianna's Story

Julianna Roman is the heart of a busy household. A 30-year-old mother of five living in Pittsburgh’s Morningside neighborhood, she relies on SNAP benefits for half of her family’s groceries and visits EECM’s food pantry each week to stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables — ingredients she transforms into healthy smoothies her kids love. 

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Julianna found joy and pride in her career in construction — until an accident four years ago left her paralyzed from the waist down. Suddenly unable to work, she turned to EECM for food and support. As she recently regained the use of one of her legs and is starting to get use in the other, Julianna is now walking. Her next goal? Finding a job where she can use her construction skills to build things again, just like she used to. 

With deep federal cuts to food programs like SNAP, families like Julianna’s are facing impossible choices between groceries, rent, medical bills, and utilities – not to mention  gifts and meals for the holidays. This year, Julianna received help with Thanksgiving dinner through our Thanksgiving gift card program. All five of Julianna’s kids, ages 1 to 17, will receive Christmas presents through EECM’s annual gift drive. 

This holiday season, your gift can make all the difference in ensuring moms like Julianna have the basics to keep their families happy and healthy, while also providing them with those little extras for the kids that make the holiday season so special.   

It is with your help that we will keep the spirit of the holidays alive in the hearts of the families we serve.  

This holiday season, we ask that you help families like Julianna's by supporting the work of EECM. Over 5,000 families use our food pantry for groceries at least once a month. Any monetary donation is worth six times the purchasing power of the average shopper because of our partnership with the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, enabling us to procure more food for our clients at a lesser financial cost.

Learn more about how to donate. Visit eecm.org/give.

Happy holidays from all of us at EECM.