Impaired vision has kept Cimeron DuBose from working for nearly 20 years. The days could be tedious, but they were also filled with purpose.  In the early 1980s, Ms. DuBose began to experience blurred vision and sensitivity to light in her left eye. She learned she had uveitis, an inflammation of the uvea, the middle layer of the eye.  “I had to get my left eye removed,” Ms. DuBose, 58, said.  In 1996, a cataract formed on her right eye, further weakening her vision. She had to give up her job as a data entry clerk for the city’s Finance Department.  She has spent much of her life since then in and around the Harlem apartment that has been in her family since 1961, raising two daughters, taking an active role in raising her sister’s two children and caring for her father, who learned in the late 1970s that he had rheumatoid arthritis.  Tending to her father was Ms. DuBose’s most important task, repayment for all he had done for her when she was growing up. Her mother died when Ms. DuBose was 27. After that, her father and grandmother had become more important in her life.  The 104th annual campaign of The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund runs through Jan. 22. Each profile illustrates the stories of those who benefited from the fund and shows the difference that even a modest amount of money can make.  You can donate to the Neediest Cases Fund online or by texting “Neediest” to 732-338-7124.  “They really, really supported me,” she said. “They told me you have to take it a day at a time and don’t worry about things. Keep your head up and keep going and going. You can’t give up, never give up.”  Those affirmations proved vital to Ms. DuBose when she was confronted with an unthinkable crisis.  In 2010, members of three generations of her family learned they had cancer: Ms. DuBose, her father and her elder daughter, Alexis. Her father had a rare form of penile cancer, Alexis had leukemia and Ms. DuBose had skin cancer under her right eye.  “It was devastating,” she said. “To hear all that, and realize I had cancer right under my good eye, I was a mess.”  Doctors were able to remove Ms. DuBose’s cancer without further compromising her vision, and Alexis’ leukemia is in remission. Ms. DuBose’s father died in 2011 in their family’s apartment, where her grandmother had died years earlier.  Though life became much more difficult for Ms. DuBose after her father’s death, she said his words had stayed with her.  “When times get hard, I hear him,” she said. “He’d always tell me: ‘You worry too much. It’s going to be all right. Just do what you have to do.’ ”  Ms. DuBose has struggled to adjust her finances without her father’s contributions to the family budget. She receives $733 a month from Social Security, $464 in food stamps and $199 in public assistance. And her household is full. Her daughters — Alexis, 33, and Theresa, 30 — live with her. Both are looking for work. Theresa’s 3-year-old son, Jamere, also lives with them.  “My daughter got pregnant the same year my father died,” Ms. DuBose said. “Seeing him coming brought a whole lot of joy into this house.”  In 2013, a representative from Community Healthcare Network came to Ms. DuBose’s apartment to tell her about its services. She was soon assigned a caseworker, who learned that Ms. DuBose needed new furniture. Her sofa sat low to the floor and caused Ms. DuBose to have problems with her knees.  “I just didn’t sit on it anymore,” she said.  The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, one of the seven agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, used $997.98 from the fund to buy a new sofa and love seat.  Ms. DuBose said that while the past few years had brought loss and frustrations, they had also given her a new purpose: another responsibility to keep her busy.  “Right now, I’m a grandmother,” she said. “That right there, that brings me joy. I said: ‘God, there’s one more task that I have, to see this boy reach 18 years old. Then my work is done.’ And that’s my goal right there.”
After Cimeron DuBose lost part of her eyesight, she focused on taking care of her loved ones. Then she and two other family members learned they had cancer.