“I’VE BEEN SO HAPPY SINCE GETTING MY OWN PLACE. NOTHING CAN BREAK MY JOY!”

Tragedy Strikes Thrice

I was a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and my mother required in-home care, so my kids and I moved in with her. I had been caring for my mom for over seven years when tragedy struck – a house fire broke out. The fire took my mother’s life and hospitalized three of my kids. The fire also claimed my job as a CNA, because I couldn’t go back to that job. It reminded me too much of her.

After I had relocated my family and started not one, but two jobs, my new landlord decided to sell the house I was renting and didn’t give me an option to buy it. Within a month I had to move, but I didn’t have anywhere to go, as I was just starting to get back on my feet. I lived off and on with my sister and was in and out of shelters. Again, my kids and I were in tragic circumstances.

And yet again, tragedy struck. On June 20, 2012, my daughter died from drowning. After her death and with everything else that had happened, I just wanted a home for my family – a place where we could all be together and begin to heal. And the shelter wasn’t it.

A Home for Healing

Every time I tried moving forward in my life, I’d just get knocked back further. So I sought help, because I was too discouraged to try to find a place to live on my own. In the fall of 2013, I met Jen and Jessica from Housing Resources, Inc.. They sent my kids and me to a family shelter while the three of us went to work finding a place that I could call home.

Motivated by their help, I immediately got the ball rolling. I looked for apartments online, followed up on different leads they gave me and made phone calls constantly. I’d asked every day at the shelter if they’d heard from Jen or Jessica, or if any of my leads had responded.

Then one day, I received the call. Jen found a landlord who would take me with HRI’s financial assistance. I called the landlord and asked him, “How soon can I move in?” He said that he had to clean the apartment first. I told him I was more than willing to help clean if it’d get me in faster. It did. After three days of cleaning, my apartment was ready and I had the keys!

My name is Julie, and now I help change the story.

With the generous help of Housing Resources, Inc., Julie was able to change the story.

Education

To give children the greatest chance to thrive, we invest in early childhood programs that help each child start school ready to learn.  We also support programs that provide quality child care and after-school activities, get families involved in their children’s education, and help children become leaders.

Health

We are making sure people have access to physical and mental health care, and that babies are born healthy. We work with health care providers to keep costs low and make sure services are available for those with little or no health insurance.