My Nonprofit Reviews

I had a very rough childhood. There were five of us, three girls and two boys, and my mother was a drug addict. After a lot of problems, including when I missed a lot of school to take care of my younger brothers and sisters, we stayed with my grandma for a while and she adopted two of us. But me and my sister anded up going into foster care when she was 15 and I was almost 16. We moved from foster home to foster home and things were often really bad, but eventually I graduated high school and was emancipated at age 18. I came back to LA to live with my cousin, but then I got pregnant with my baby. I had no job and no further education and I had no one to turn to. After the baby was born, my cousin kicked us out and for two months we started going to different places to stay at different relatives and friends, for a night or a few days at a time. I couldn't just think about me, I had to think first about my baby. Eventually I was sleeping on the floor at my boyfriend's mother's house and I thought this was no way for my baby to live. So I went down to a mission in Skid Row, because someone told me they could help you. When I went down there, it was scary. It was horrifying. I couldn't go in and take my baby into this place with all these homeless men hanging around. I fled back to a friend's house, but couldn't stay. So the next day I went back and this time they put us into a hotel shelter for a while. All during this time I was feeling worthless and depressed and I had really bad anxiety. I felt lost, like no one wanted to help. Then, they sent me to Beyond Shelter and I enrolled in their Housing First Program. I met my case worker who said right away that she would help me get a Section 8 and help me to find an apartment. I had never had an apartment of my own, but I always wanted to be independent. If I hadn't found Beyond Shelter, I don't know where I would be right now. I don't even know where my baby would be. Beyond Shelter gave me motivation. They called me, came to see me, always asked what my baby needed. They made me feel that they cared about me and that they would help me make my life better. If someone says they're going to help you but they don't put the effort out, it's another downfall. You say Damn, I'm failing again. But with my case manager being there for me, I seemed to have more get up and go. I moved in on February 7, 2008. It's a beautiful two-bedroom apartment, upstairs in a four-plex. I have a living room and dining room area, with a laundry room as well. I live in a really quiet neighborhood and safe environment for me and my daughter. My life has changed. Now that I have permanent housing, I feel more confident because I don't have to sit up at night and worry about where I'm going to sleep, what is my baby going to eat, does she have enough diapers, and whom can I depend on. I have a roof over me and my daughter's head, clothes on our backs, and food on the table. I've been able to work at different jobs over the past year. In the future, my dreams are to go to college and major in Interior Design and one day to have my own business. I want to send my daughter off to college as well, to pursue her dreams and goals.

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