By: Larissa Ruffin
In the middle of April, I meet a woman who looked absolutely distraught. Her name was Andrea and she was desperately fighting for reunification with her three beautiful daughters. During her intake, we identified a plan of action. Andrea needed to find employment, comply with Family Treatment Court requirements, find housing and have visits with her kids. All is quite a challenge when juggling a number of appointments and securing employment. Andrea was determined and after she secured employment – she began working a full time 2nd shift job!
During her short time here she was able to move mountains. Andrea put her name on the waiting list for HACAP transitional housing on her first day here, which can take anywhere from a week to four months and somtimes even longer to get into. Andrea made her weekly call to HACAP every Monday and within a month she has received the call. She got a two bedroom apartment and was able to move in the Friday before Mother’s Day. It was the greatest gift she could have asked for.
Andrea had a storage unit filled with all of her and her children’s belongings. She was not worried about having the things needed for a home, because as far as she knew she had everything packed away. When she left CWH in the morning to sign the lease and go to her storage unit she was filled with a sense of relief.
When Andrea came back, I was saddened to learn that she had lost her belongings in storage due to unforeseen circumstances. We immediately enlisted social media to solicit for assistance! Within a matter of hours, Andrea had a bed donated to her. Then, a wonderful family who wished to remain anonymous, dropped off a very generous care package! This package was amazing and helped to ease the pain of losing the storage items. Andrea’s care package included a microwave, dishes, pots and pans, silverware, glasses, 2 laundry baskets, dish drainer, garbage cans and so much more!
Thank you to everyone who donated to help this mom get back on her feet! Without you, we would never be able to help fill the need of those moving on to a better life!