Lifeline (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781628802184)

It's 1980 and Sam Westfall, a recently retired 20-year veteran of the Marine Corp, returns to the Homewood section of Pittsburgh where he grew up and finds it decimated. The community is shattered by the closing of the mills, and he is devastated by observing young African American children and their mothers, struggling to survive in a country of vast resources. Poverty, racial tensions, boarded up houses and businesses and the lack of leadership by civic leaders is devastating to Sam. He is overwhelmed by the number of young girls, solely responsible for raising their children, without any financial support especially from fathers, reminding him of his own mother and upbringing. Sam vows to devote his life and financial resources to address this crisis. He begins by talking to groups of local citizens to discuss this problem and to develop assistance programs within the community and eventually the City, to address these issues. Over the next forty years, many new and extended programs are put into place to help the children and their parents. Sam has seen many children go on to college and even the military, but more importantly, begin fulfilling and successful lives.

Sam is now in his 80's and with success with his programs over the years, he recognizes there is still much to do, not only for African American children, but all children and not only in Pittsburgh but in communities across the country. He is reconnected with Jamie Sloan, in his mid-70's who worked with him when he first began to help families. Jamie, a retired architect, decides to join up with Sam again and introduces him to Margaret Decker, a wealthy widow of a powerful U.S. Senator, in her mid-70's, who has expressed interest in Sam's work. Margaret joins up with Sam and Jamie to combine their talents to expand Sam's program, now called LIFELINE, for poverty-stricken children across our country. Sam, Jamie and Margaret begin their association, just as a catastrophic pandemic in a hundred years strangles the country. They realize the COVID pandemic will affect their families more than any segment of the population. This story is how these three older folks of different backgrounds, come together to create a 21^St Century formulated program that works to combine all governmental and private programs into a unified system to assist underprivileged children and parents a chance in life. They join together to provide for the neediest in our society. LIFELINE is a story of our times.