Woman lost family and home after multiple sclerosis diagnosis—a 'Buy Nothing' Facebook group gave her another chance at life
When the community steps up to help a person in need, everyone’s little can turn into a heap of magic. Being at the edge, struggling and feeling helpless, all one wants is a hand to hold and know that hope exists. For a woman named Anna Hover, when she received her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, everything came crashing down, per MPR. She lost her home and her job and was struggling to make ends meet for her family. She then stumbled upon a Facebook group called “Buy Nothing,” and it became her redeeming shot at life, giving her a refreshed start.
The woman recalled how she had two degrees and was well-to-do. She soon started feeling sick until she was exhausted. From thereon, everything went downhill. “I noticed weird things. I would have extreme fatigue, debilitating, like bedridden. I just could not get up and go to work,” she said. She added that her weakness caused trouble in walking. She often felt like she was “walking like I was drunk and my speech would slur sporadically.” Hover also began to feel depression and anxiety. Eventually, she lost her job and was diagnosed. She left her home to live with her family in Mississippi.
At this point, Hover’s entire life had turned upside down. She had to move for treatment and didn’t have a concrete idea of what lay ahead. At one point, she stopped in Minnesota to visit a friend, with the plan to return. However, things changed and before she knew it, she decided not to leave. With only three weeks' worth of supplies, Hover decided to settle in the area and start afresh. But this was easier said than done. She took up a small space in her friend’s house. “I didn't even have sheets. I had a dirty pillow and a blanket that I threw on top of the bed, on the mattress,” Hover recalled.
That’s when she learned about “Buy Nothing.” The group was dedicated to giving away items to the neighborhood. “My very first post was in search of a coffeemaker, a TV, and a laptop, which are three extravagant items, in my opinion. What I really needed was the coffeemaker,” Hover remarked. When she soon received five responses to her request, she started building up hope. “I couldn't believe it. And then the one guy I ended up getting the coffeemaker from wrote to me and said, ‘Do you need filters?’ I mean, how amazing is that?” she added.
The woman soon began collecting stuff, each item coming in with best wishes and generosity from strangers. The kindness from the Facebook group enkindled a different hope in Hover and she soon began getting life in place, starting with an apartment. “I didn't think I could have my own apartment until I had another bed or a table or dishes. And I didn't have to worry about all that because of things I got off of Buy Nothing,” she explained. The woman eventually got a job and even began to recover healthwise — all because a community’s kindness came through. “It gave me security. It gave me, really, a sense of pride,” Hover remarked.
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