These Miami-area families need help with rising medical costs. Here’s how you can help
Milagros Mesa is starting over at 68.
The grandmother lost nearly everything earlier this year after the building she lived in was set ablaze during a shooting, and later, demolished.
Firefighters rescued Mesa, who has difficulties walking, a longstanding result of contracting polio as a child. She had also recently undergone knee surgery. They saved her pet parrot Cuki, too, and were able to retrieve her electric wheelchair.
More than 40 people, including Mesa and her husband, were displaced after the fire in downtown Miami. In September, after two months of living in a motel, Mesa and her husband are in a new apartment, trying to rebuild their lives.
“For me, my house was everything, mi casita,” Mesa told the Miami Herald in Spanish. “Imagine how it shocked me what happened. I had my house very pretty and now, gracias a Dios, I can say that I have one again.”
But she’s struggling to get around. Mesa, who uses a medical boot, needs a new wheelchair.
“The battery does not charge well,” the seat is a bit broken, and insurance will only replace the electric wheelchair every five years, Mesa told the Miami Herald. She had a new manual wheelchair — it was initially meant for her mom who died in Cuba earlier this year — but it was lost in the fire, along with all of the couple’s other belongings.
Mesa is one of more than 180 nominations submitted by charitable organizations to Miami Herald Charities this year for Wish Book consideration. Wish Book opens its 43rd season on Thanksgiving Thursday and, through year’s end, Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald journalists, along with Florida International University student contributors, will share many of these stories of South Florida families in need.
Gemma Carrillo, a community coordinator for Miami-Dade Schools Police, nominated Mesa in hopes of helping her get the medical equipment she needs. Mesa has kept a positive outlook despite losing “everything in a matter of seconds,” she said.
Carrillo is hoping readers will help Mesa’s wish come true. She wants a new electric wheelchair with a comfy seat. She would also like new forearm crutches to help her practice walking.
Like Mesa, dozens of other people in Miami-Dade and Broward are struggling to afford pricey but essential medical equipment and treatments while also juggling rent and other expenses.
The toll of cancer
For the parents of 10-year-old Elizabeth Izaguirre, cancer treatment has put a financial and emotional strain on the family. Elizabeth was diagnosed with leukemia last year and is now undergoing treatment three times a week at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital near South Miami while attending school remotely.
The treatments are “very hard for her,” her mom, Heidi Gomez, told the Miami Herald in Spanish.
The cancer diagnosis caught Elizabeth’s family by surprise. Gomez had noticed a few months before the cancer diagnosis that her daughter was bruising easily and always seemed to be tired and sleepy. But she never thought it was a sign of cancer, she said.
Then one day, Elizabeth’s school called: “She had a high fever,” Gomez recalled.
Gomez took Elizabeth to her pediatrician. The doctor saw the bruises and noticed tiny reddish spots along her body. The flat and painless spots, known as petechiae, are sometimes a symptom of leukemia. Gomez was told to take Elizabeth to the hospital for tests, including a biopsy to confirm cancer.
“It was devastating,” Gomez said. She resigned from her security job at a condominium to become Elizabeth’s full-time caretaker. Now, the family depends on the paycheck of Elizabeth’s dad, who works in construction, to make ends meet.
“It’s very difficult for him to pay the bills of the house, car, light, telephone, food, everything,” said Gomez.
Cancer has also taken an emotional toll on Elizabeth. She misses her friends and feels insecure, worried they see her differently because of her diagnosis and hair loss, her mom said. Some days are harder then others for Elizabeth too. Mom does her best to distract her. When Elizabeth feels strong enough, her mom takes her to a museum, the park or Elizabeth’s favorite place — the beach.
Sandra Muvdi, the founder, president and CEO of the Jessica June Children’s Cancer Foundation, nominated Elizabeth’s family for Wish Book with hopes of easing the family’s financial burden. Her parents’ wish is to get help paying the monthly $2,168.76 mortgage on their North Miami Beach home, their largest expense. And the family hopes to bring joy to Elizabeth, who would like a MacBook laptop for homework and a Meta Quest 3 virtual reality headset to play with.
“It’s important to have that stability of staying in their own home ... and not have to relocate or not have to change schools, not add more stress and more changes to their lives than what they’re already going through,” said Muvdi, who founded the Jessica June foundation in 2004 after losing her child to cancer. “So keeping their home is very important for them so that they can focus on their child’s treatment and survival.”
During the Wish Book season, readers will meet many other people in need, including:
▪ Alexa Mitchell, 23, who has a rare genetic disorder and uses a wheelchair. Swimming has previously helped improve Mitchell’s mobility, but she’s unable to get in and out of the pool at the group home where she lives. Her family’s wish is to get a pool lift to help her use the pool again.
▪ David Leal, 43, a quadriplegic who lives in Hialeah and needs money to repair his air conditioning and replace his unreliable 16-year-old wheelchair-accessible van.
▪ Catule Souverain, 21, who moved to South Florida from Haiti a few years ago to live with his dad. His father later abandoned him and the teen became homeless. The Miami Dade College student, who now lives in Casa Valentina housing, is studying nursing and would like a new laptop to help him with coursework. He’s also looking for a paid internship or other job opportunity at a hospital.
▪ Stella Georgakopoulos, 46, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a chronic, neurological disease that affects the body’s central nervous system. The mom was recently laid off and is looking for a job that will accommodate her disability. She would also like a mobility scooter to help her move around with ease.
“Although so many challenges have been pulling at our purse strings this year — from natural disasters to economic hardships — so many of our neighbors are in need. The readers of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald have always risen to the occasion, supporting those that are suffering,” said Roberta DiPietro, Wish Book coordinator.
“As nominees grapple with everyday struggles alongside medical, housing, and employment concerns, the demand for help has never been greater. As we embark on this holiday season, we look forward to assisting in making lives better, more comfortable, and bringing some joy to these deserving individuals. Whether it is toys for children, housing for families, support for aging-out foster children or equipment and services for medically challenged, we believe the power of our readership will make a significant impact through the Wish Book program this year,” DiPietro said.
On Give Miami Day, a week ahead of Thanksgiving, Wish Book raised $13,764 from 68 donors. Since Wish Book joined the Miami Foundation’s annual charitable event, more than $115,000 has been collected over the years, DiPietro said.
“While this effort assists in supporting the annual Wish Book program, which kicks off Thanksgiving Day, much more is needed to change lives of the neediest in our community,” she said.
How Wish Book gives back
Last year, Wish Book raised more than $328,200 to help more than 180 families. The current record was set in 2020, the first year of COVID, when readers delivered $496,000 to help more than 170 South Floridians in need.
Last year, Wish Book helped families like Lucas Salazar’s pay several months of car payments and get the 5-year-old a Playstation 5 and a bed of his own.
Cristian Batista and his family, who moved to Miami from the Dominican Republic, received furniture, electronics and other holiday gifts.
Katrina Faust, a physical therapist living in North Miami Beach who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, also had her wish granted last year. She was given a brand new power chair to help her continue to be independent.
“For more than 40 years, the Herald’s Wish Book program has been a powerful way for our community to come together and support those who are struggling. Through the stories we share, we shine a light on neighbors facing tough times — families who can’t afford gifts, seniors who need a hand, individuals overcoming illness or disabilities,” said Alex Mena, executive editor of the Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.
“Through the Wish Book program, we connect those in need with those who care, and every gift — no matter the size — brings hope, dignity, and joy to those who need it most. This program is a testament to the compassion and generosity of our South Florida community,” he said.
Faust, who is still working as a physical therapist, expressed gratitude for the $3,000 wheelchair that an anonymous donor gifted her during the 2023 Wish Book season.
“The chair has worked out great for long distances, travel, or bad days. It was especially helpful for getting into my workplace when the entrance I use was closed for construction,” Faust said in a recent email interview with the Miami Herald.
Wish Book was born in December 1982, the year of “E.T.,” Rocky Balboa’s third bout in movie theaters and Italy’s victory at the FIFA World Cup. The first campaign brought in contributions totaling $173,177 from more than 3,114 Herald readers who met the recipients via a single holiday stand-alone print section. As technology evolved, stories flowed in print and online from Thanksgiving through the New Year.
Between 1999 and 2023, the Wish Book program received more than 4,800 nominations of individuals and families, representing more than 14,700 people. Records of Wish Book’s early years are incomplete, but in those more recent 24 seasons, records reflect that more than 44,916 donors have made cash donations in excess of $8 million and generous members of our community have donated items with a value of more than $1.6 million, according to DiPietro.
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How to help
To help this Wish Book nominee and more than 100 others who are in need this year:
▪ To donate, use the coupon found in the newspaper or pay securely online through www.MiamiHerald.com/wishbook
▪ For more information, call 305-376-2906 or email Wishbook@MiamiHerald.com
▪ The most requested items are often laptops and tablets for school, furniture, and accessible vans
▪ Read all Wish Book stories on www.MiamiHerald.com/wishbook
This story was originally published November 26, 2024 at 5:15 AM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correctly reflect Catule Souverain’s age.
