Alecia’s story

After giving birth to her beautiful baby girl, Deannah, things took a difficult turn for Alecia’s mental health. Struggling financially, Alecia and her husband Deon had a lot of mouths to feed. They were carrying a lot of stress and needed extra support. When their local church, The Church of Pentecost in Wolverhampton, became one of 151 churches partnered with TLG to run Box of Hope, everything changed. 

“When the pandemic came, my eldest daughter was home from university, so we had three children at home to feed,” says Alecia. “It really affected me, it was hard to provide for the family. During that time, I had postpartum psychosis which is a mental health condition, so having to think about extra things like finding food was really difficult.” 

Receiving regular support through TLG Box of Hope made a huge difference to Alecia and Deon’s family. “It was a big help both emotionally and practically. Not having to worry about finding food took that bit of stress from me and the support also helped me in recovering from my mental health condition.” 

“The food was great,” says Deshaun, aged 12. “One box had Jamaican Water Crackers which I enjoyed a lot. I could see that it helped my mum out too, it had been tough seeing her struggle so much. There was Caribbean food in the parcels which made it very personal because it was stuff we would normally eat.” 

“It made me happy and put a smile on my face. It was inclusive,” Alecia says. 

Heather, The Church of Pentecost’s TLG Box of Hope coordinator, said: “We could see the need within our community where many families were struggling during the pandemic. We felt very humbled to see so many families helped. We could see the impact it had within the neighbourhood with local businesses getting involved, as well as the impact on our church community!” 

The church enlisted the help of a local supermarket that provided authentic Caribbean food for the boxes. With the demand continuing to grow and grow, the church even used its allotment to grow food to put in the boxes, including: apples; rhubarb; plums; strawberries; blackberries; raspberries and blackcurrants - ensuring families received delicious and healthy food to eat alongside the emotional support Box of Hope provided. 

“I know there are people at the local church who will support me and my family when we need it. If it wasn’t for TLG, we would have struggled much more.”

Alecia and her family have been attending church services and have been supported by the wider church family as a result of TLG Box of Hope. Across the UK, over ONE MILLION meals have been delivered through TLG Box of Hope, helping families just like Alecia’s get the support they need!