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In Focus

Apple dumplings, pumpkin rolls and frozen peanut butter pies — whipped up by a kitchen crew of volunteers — could generate cash for Jen and Jesse Miller.

Michelle Wolford says she and other members at Messiah United Methodist Church work in shifts to stockpile the holiday treats.

Proceeds are aimed at making the Miller home weather tight in time for winter.

Cash contributors can send checks to the Messiah United Methodist Church, 30 S. Penn St., Shippensburg, PA 17257; in care of the Local Needs Offering/Jesse and Jen Miller.

“We have tons of people ready to work on the house as soon as we can raise money to buy materials,” Wolford says.

She promotes the dumplings, pies and rolls as “an awesome way to get holiday desserts without the frantic work in the kitchen.“

All three items can be ordered by calling Wolford at 532-4142 or 496-6695. Italian Taxi pizzas are also available.

Apple dumplings ($3), pumpkin rolls ($6) and pizzas ($5) are available now. The frozen peanut butter pies will be made next month.

By Dale Heberlig, Sentinel Reporter, Nov. 10, 2008

Last updated: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 9:39 AM EST

Help for a Shippensburg couple could be on the way from a woman who knows about neighbors helping neighbors.

Michelle Wolford — who reaped the rewards of community support for her family a few years ago — is appealing for a similar outpouring for Jen and Jessie Miller.

Wolford is also baking apple dumplings and making pumpkin rolls to fuel fundraisers to assist the couple and their children.

Wolford and her husband, Sean, were humbled a few years ago when they discovered their infant son Justin had a rare disease that required a stem cell transplant to help him survive.

Michelle Wolford says people offered their time and money and the power of prayer. The enormous support that came their way hasn’t been forgotten.

“We didn’t have a need that went untouched,” she says. “We learned that you can’t repay everyone and that we just have to be there for others when they need help.”

The Millers certainly fill the bill for a family in need.

Jen, 30, and Jesse, 31, met in 1997 when they both had Crohn’s disease. Jen was a nursing student who was asked to visit Jesse for spiritual support during a hospital stay.

Bills are in

Jesse Miller’s illness stabilized. The couple were drawn to each other and eventually wed in June 1999, but his wife’s condition worsened and she also developed lupus.

They bought a home in Shippensburg from her parents in 2001 and planned extensive repairs and remodeling.

Jen Miller says they re-mortgaged the home and stashed money in a savings account to help make the repairs.

That money is gone and the plans scuttled by Jen Miller’s ongoing illnesses and worsening symptoms, which ultimately forced her to give up her profession as a registered nurse in April 2007.

The loss of her job wiped out more than half of the family’s income and left them dependent on Jesse Miller’s insurance from his employment as a contractor at Letterkenny Army Depot.

“I worked at Harrisburg Hospital and my insurance coverage was good,” Jen Miller says. “Jesse’s is not as good.”

The family wound up with an $8,000 hospital bill and have been trying to dig out of the hole ever since, while coping with ongoing medical bills.

The Millers’ oldest daughter — 9-year-old Kylee — has health issues, too. She is predisposed to Crohn’s and had a colonoscopy by age 2.

She also suffered from periodic high fevers and was diagnosed with periodic fever syndrome, a disease that can lead to Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis. Asthma is another problem.

Church steps in

Church members at Messiah United Brethren Church helped Jesse Miller replace a leaky roof this summer, but that was too late to prevent water damage to the home.

The kitchen ceiling is buckling, held together by lathe strips. The house needs siding, doors and windows. There is mold damage and exterior structural damage and a chimney is in poor condition.

Michelle Wolford is determined to help and has enlisted the fervent support of the church’s pastor, Kevin Hughes, who says, “We’re going to help these folks.”

Hughes says he and 25 other church members just returned from the Gulf Coast, where reconstruction from the Hurricane Katrina in 2005 is still underway.

“Now we have a family in our own neighborhood who needs help,” Hughes says. “My feeling is that if we can help people we don’t know in Mississippi, we can surely do it for these folks.”

Hughes and Wolford hope to rally the community to provide building materials and cash for church members willing to perform the work.

Daily struggle

Jen Miller says her illness leaves her “tired and overwhelmed.”

Her appetite is weak, she’s suffered significant muscle loss, has frequent abdominal pain and is often nauseous to the point of vomiting.

Steady doses of steroids during previous drug regimens led to a weight gain of 80 pounds in 10 months, and that weight is now dropping. But her poor appetite leads to nutritional concerns.

Frequent doctor appointments and hospital stays interrupt the family life.

“But, we’re doing what we have to do,” Jen Miller says. “Our big fear now is if Jesse gets sick again. We couldn’t make it if that happens.”

Her husband knows he cannot fall ill.

“I’ve had some respiratory problem for three weeks or so, but it’s getting better,” he says. “Getting sick is a main concern for me, too.”

What’s tougher he says is not knowing what his schedule might be if “things take a turn for the worse.”

He says his work as a contractor at Letterkenny Army Depot is demanding and sometimes physically challenging, and he works as much overtime as possible to make ends meet.

Jesse Miller also struggles with the prospect of asking for help.

“It’s hard for me to talk about this,” he says. “I’ve always stood on my own two feet.”