The United Way of Massachusetts Bay honored the Fidelis family, Brazilian immigrants of Everett, for their personal triumph over hardship, with its ninth Courage Award at its 67th Annual Campaign Celebration Friday afternoon.
The Fidelis family Odair, Martinha, Artur and Luisa departed their native Brazil for Boston four years ago, with three of its members suffering from various ailments. Artur, then nine, could not walk and had speech difficulties. Without a wheelchair, Artur’s only means of mobility was in his parents’ arms or on their backs.
Odair, the father, worked extra hours in a restaurant, but never received overtime pay since he was not informed about employment laws. Martinha, the mother, suffered from low blood pressure and diabetes. At six months pregnant, she was too exhausted to continue carrying Artur and was hospitalized twice for fainting.
The Fidelis family was finally referred to the Massachusetts Alliance for Portuguese Speakers, a United Way-funded agency.
‘We became the Fidelis family’s translators, advocates and friends,’ said Paul Pinto, executive director of MAPS. ‘They became very special to us.’
Artur, an eighth grader in public school, has now learned English, undergone four operations to regain partial motor control and uses a mobilized wheelchair. He expressed deep gratitude to his physical therapist, doctors and family for their support.
‘As you can see, I’m doing everything now,’ he said.
Odair continues to work long hours, but has received counseling from MAPS and is educated about his employee rights. He and his wife were joined recently by the newest member of the family, German. Martinha, who has taken English as a Second Language classes and now works as a housekeeper, expressed her gratitude in Portuguese.
‘This is a wonderful country,’ Pinto translated. ‘Sometimes when you have the courage to do something, you can’t do it alone.’
‘I thought about the act of a mother carrying this child, up and down the stairs every place she went,’ said Marian Heard, president and CEO of UWMB. ‘What would you have imagined if MAPS hadn’t been there for the Fidelis family?’
Jackie Baker, a junior in Boston University’s College of Arts and Sciences and last year’s UWMB Courage Award recipient, presented the family with the award. Baker’s participation in United Way-funded after school programs helped her survive a troubled home and gain acceptance to college, she said.
‘People sometimes ask me how I did it,’ she said. ‘Clearly I did it with the help of the United Way and its affiliates.’
‘When you say that word, you think you know what ‘courage’ means,’ said Francis Rivera of WHDH-TV Channel 7, the master of ceremonies for the event. The Fidelis family is one of so many examples of how people can help others through the United Way, she added.
Ann Romney, first lady of the Commonwealth, is on the UWMB’s board of directors and helped chair the United Way Faith in Action Committee, and was also in attendance.
In the past year, UWMB raised more than $55 million to help fund about 200 human service agencies in 80 communities, despite an uncertain economy and unemployment growth.
‘It seems like we’re swimming upstream,’ Heard said, in closing, citing the poor economy.
‘Next year we’re going to challenge you even more,’ she said.