Inwood woman Pauline Thomas furnishes a better life for grandkids

Pauline Thomas is a warm, welcoming woman and it not only shows in the manner she greeted a reporter into her Inwood home but in the way she has taken the mantle of family leadership and is caring for her six grandchildren as a daughter battles substance abuse.

Thomas is also a proud woman who works as a teacher’s aide at Lawrence Elementary School and heading a household with children ages 3, 5, 9, 10, 12 and 16 takes a lot to support. Armed with a referral from Veronica Ortiz at the Five Towns Community Center in Lawrence, Thomas connected with Marion & Aaron Gural JCC that operates the Sustenance Hope Opportunities Place or SHOP in Cedarhurst.

The SHOP includes the Rina Shkolnik Kosher Food Pantry. It also has clothes and social workers. “Veronica Ortiz reached out to me because of the kids and I spoke with her and she referred me to Dalia at the SHOP,” Thomas said. Dalia Abott is a social worker in charge of community support services at the SHOP.

Thomas explained her situation to Abott that with seven people crammed into a small apartment in a private house, and there was not enough beds for everyone. Abott contacted Ashley Furniture and its Hope to Dream Program and filled out the application. “Dalia said, ‘I can help. We have a program I put your name in for the beds,’” Thomas said.

The program is supported by mattress purchases. Since its inception seven years ago the program has furnished more than 60,000 children a twin mattress, a bed frame, bedding and a pillow. Its underlying mission is to ensure that children do not suffer from the emotional and physical affects of sleep deprivation.

Thomas said the beds were delivered on Sept. 14. In addition to the beds, the Gural JCC provided school supplies. And now, once a month, Thomas goes to the SHOP for cereal, milk and pasta. “It’s a great help,” she said. “The kids were excited and feel so much better.” Children ages 3 to 5 should sleep 10 to 13 hours per day, 6 to 13 nine to 11 hours and 14 to 17 eight to 10 hours, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

Thomas’s daughter, the oldest of two, is currently in a Manhattan drug rehabilitation program. “They know mom is not there,” Thomas said, adding there are visits on the weekend.

The children, according to Thomas from the youngest to the oldest, are independent to a point and are helping her cope as much as she helps them. One of the kids is playing football at the middle school level and another is eyeing college and possibly majoring in finance.

“Pauline Thomas is a wonderful woman who has taken on the responsibility of taking care of six grandchildren,” Abott said. “No child should not have a comfortable bed. We contacted Ashley and in three to four weeks this was taken care of. We are so appreciative of the support.”

Saying the situation has been stressful at times, Thomas said she thanks God for giving her the strength to do it as everyone has pitched in, including the 3-year-old who went to school like a veteran and the 5-year-old who “loves the teacher” and is “so excited to go to school,” their grandmother said.

“It is how the community is, we want to help each other,” said Thomas, adding that the hardships show the children that they have “to go to school and work hard to achieve they things they want.”