Ms. Cynthia
Cynthia knew that February 11 was the last day she could lock a door behind her and stay out of the cold. She had fallen behind on rent at the extended stay hotel where she and her 14-year-old son Chris had been living, and the hotel manager gave her the final notice that security guards would arrive to lock them out that night.
That morning, Cynthia reached out to Project Community Connections, Inc. (PCCI). Before the day was out, Cynthia and Chris were staying at Hagar's House, Decatur Cooperative Ministry's shelter for women with children. Before the week was out, she was at a job fair that led to full-time work. A little over two months later, she moved into a small apartment on a MARTA line.
Cynthia's experience was partly the result of a partnership between Decatur Cooperative Ministry, which provides temporary shelter, comprehensive services, and other programs to help families stabilize, and PCCI, which helps families find and move in to affordable permanent housing. In 2009, the partnership received a Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing stimulus grant of $673,579 from DeKalb County, which will last through mid-2011. To date, DCM and PCCI have used the stimulus funds to re-house or prevent homelessness for a total of 88 families in DeKalb County. DCM kept 46 families from losing their homes, and PCCI placed 42 families back in permanent housing.
“As bad as it is that you have to go to the shelter, it was a very good experience for me and my son,” Cynthia says. “When I went to Hagar's House on February 11, Miss Sybil [program manager] gave me resources. She told me I had to try to find a full-time job even though I was already working part-time. They gave me information about the job fair.” Cynthia was hired March 3 full-time as a suite attendant at a hotel in DeKalb County and was recently interviewed for a supervisory position.
The next step for Cynthia was to find affordable housing near a MARTA line. PCCI uses Georgia Housing Search, an online referral and placement system that connects families with landlords of public and private housing. The agency helped Cynthia find the apartment in south Fulton and paid the deposit on it. But it was more than just an apartment locator.
“Miss Marlene [case manager] also works to make sure you're on task,” Cynthia says. “‘How are you feeling? How are you doing? Do you have any problems? Do you need clothes for interviews?’ Just a lot of things.”
“This place shouldn't even be called a shelter”.
While staying at Hagar's House, Cynthia attended counseling and financial management classes at night after working during the day. Despite the long days and stressful situation, she said her temporary home was more like a family than a shelter.
“It touched me so much the way they run Hagar's House and how much it's a family environment. They are really there to help you. This place shouldn't even be called a shelter. They will sit down with you because they know you. I appreciated just the fact that there were people out there that helped you. It was a family situation.”
Chris, now 15, attends school in Fulton County and is settling into the new apartment well. Living in temporary housing such as a hotel or shelter is far from uncommon among Georgia children. In DeKalb County and Decatur City schools alone, more than 1,600 homeless students were enrolled during the 2007-2008 school year, according to the 2008 report, Supportive Housing: An At-Risk and Homeless Plan for DeKalb County. The statewide graduation rate for these students is only 25% (2009 State Report Card on Homelessness).
It was the homeless liaison at Chris's school who recommended that Cynthia call PCCI last February. She was between jobs—a four-month assignment through a temporary labor agency had ended before Christmas, and a new second-shift job at a local laundry service was just starting. Because of her work record, the hotel manager had allowed her some flexibility in paying the rent, but eventually he demanded that she settle up.
By partnering, DCM and PCCI provide a full range of services to alleviate and prevent homelessness among families in DeKalb. DCM's services include an emergency financial assistance and education program, a food pantry and food cooperative, and long-term transitional housing, in addition to its shelter program. PCCI offers search and relocation services for affordable housing and in some cases, help with first month's rent or deposits. Together, the two organizations provide both temporary and permanent housing solutions for people who have found themselves in crisis.
Cynthia signed the lease on her new apartment April 19.
(Thanks to Nancy Saltmarsh for writing this story.)
http://decaturcooperativeministry.org/html/success.php
Ms. Baxter
Ms. Baxter appeared to have everything in her life together. Her upbringing was great, and she had no complaints with her family. Even though she was one of eight, she got along with all of her siblings and parents- even after her parents divorced. In 1988, Ms. Baxtera decided to join the military. Stressed and bored, she used alcohol as a crutch to make it through her time in the service. This began her cycle of poor choices.
After eight years of service, Ms. Baxter left the military. She hadn’t planned it out well, however, because she had no place to call home yet. Her friends and family allowed her to stay with them for free to help her get back on her feet; she unfortunately used this as an excuse to foster her addiction to alcohol and soon enough, drugs. Ms. Baxter learned how easy it was to sell drugs to make money and got into the business quickly. Eventually, her fun came to an end when she was arrested and jailed for seven years. Dismayed and confused, she realized she had to clean herself up in order to continue her life.
Upon her release, Ms. Baxter had nothing and no one. She had stopped her abuse of drugs and alcohol in jail, and wanted another chance in society. She went to The Gateway Center and they showed her how to receive assistance as a veteran and how to reorganize and restructure her life. “They believed in me when no one else did,” she remarks. She also received help from Project Community Connection, who assisted Ms. Baxter in finding housing and a job.
Recognizing that her success was collaboration, she knew she wanted to give back and return the favor. She volunteers when she has time and also drives a church bus that picks up homeless individuals and offers them help. In her free time, she enjoys writing poetry about her past and is going a cruise with her family soon! She has remained focused and strong throughout her journey and is forever grateful for the opportunity to succeed in life.
This story was written using the interviews done by Celebrating Success volunteers Allegra Coleman and Clarence Robinson of United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, Wes Singletary of Georgia Power and Robert Nash.
Kevin
Born and raised in Atlanta, Kevin was familiar with the city and the way it worked. He worked hard throughout his childhood with the intention of being a successful business man one day. Eventually, he worked himself up to the highest paid employee in his department.
He was working hard and reaping all the benefits. However, when the economy took a sharp turn for the worse, Kevin was hit with a lay off. He was embarrassed and upset. His pride prevented him from telling anyone about his job loss except his mother. He managed to keep up with his rent until he came home one day and his apartment was on fire and burning down. He lost every material and physical possession he had, and the apartment complex did nothing to compensate him. “I couldn’t do anything but watch everything burn up. I had nowhere to live. It had taken every penny I had to live there. At the end of the day, all I could do was pray,” Kevin says. He was devastated, traumatized and frightened. His mother offered him a place to stay with her, but he didn’t want to be a burden on her. He stayed in hotels and Red Cross shelters for over three months.
Kevin continued attending church every Sunday even though he was ashamed of what he was going through. To make his situation worse, Kevin was coping with the immense amount of bugs that shared hotel rooms with him. Bug bites and sores developed overnight in some hotel rooms and Kevin had no way of preventing it. Finally, Kevin found work in his church. Though it was only part-time and minimal pay, it helped him feel self worth. He had a job to accomplish and he knew he could do it. He also got connected with Project Community Connection Inc., who assisted him in finding housing and a job.
Now Kevin has a steady job doing graphics and a steady income. He got a new home, even better than his previous home. He turned his life around completely and he believes in giving back to the community that helped him succeed when he didn’t think he could. Kevin volunteers and helps feed the hungry whenever he has spare time. He owes his return to self-sufficiency to everyone and every agency that offered a helping hand when no one else did.
This story was written using the interviews done by Celebrating Success volunteers Connie Brown of United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, Deborah Hawkes of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Lance Safford of SunTrust, Jacki Rudd and Philip Spiceland.
