JOPLIN, MO.--- Sabrina Williams, 22, calls them her daughter's battle scars.
"That one there, that one there," says Sabrina Williams.
Melody was born with a heart condition.
"The right side of her heart isn't completely there, and her arteries aren't connected or nothing," says Williams.
At one and a half years old, Melody has already undergone 2 heart surgeries, and a close brush with death.
"She had caught a cold, turned into a virus, her hole had closed," says Williams.
Williams says Melody's prolonged hospital stay cost her, her job.
"They're like you haven't worked for us long enough so you can't be there and we can't hold a spot here for you so that's how I lost that job," says Williams.
A job she needed to support 3 other kids and her boyfriend, Dalnore, who's on disability.
"Everything was so overwhelming, like over, overwhelming. It was so bad I didn't know what to do," says Williams.
That's when she turned to the Alliance of Southwest Missouri. They help more than 50 families like Williams with expenses such as travel to hospital visits, as well as paying for utilities and necessities.
"So that they aren't pushed to a level that they might react to situations that cause them to harm their children or neglect their children," says Sallie Hughes, Community Coordinator.
Sabrina and Delnore say a package of these diapers can save them up to $150 a month, which they can use toward food and clothing. Willams has since found a part time job, but between that, the kids, and the stress of her financial situation it can be too much too handle some days.
"I don't ever want to bring out what's going on in my life out on my babies," says Williams.
For her, supportive phones calls with Alliance workers help when it gets too tough to juggle it all.
"I'm out here working because I have to take care of my babies you know," says Williams.
The Alliance is raising money to enhance their outreach as part of their fundraiser "Show Me You Care About Kids." For more information about how you can help prevent child abuse and neglect, click here.
