From Disaster to Stability in Seven Months
From Disaster to Stability in Seven Months
A young family survived a devastating fire only to find themselves on the streets. FamilyAid’s assistance provided shelter and a path toward stability
Four-year-old Jake, his 16-year-old brother Sam and his mother, Jenny, arrived at FamilyAid’s Hyde Park shelter last May, carrying everything they owned. After losing their home to a devastating fire, their remaining physical possessions could fit in their pockets. When they walked through our shelter doors, however, they carried bundles of trauma created by the fire and an uncertain future. They worried about where their next meal would come from, whether Jake and Sam would ever see their schools or neighborhood friends, and whether they would have their own home again.
Less than 7 months later, however, those concerns and challenges seem like a lifetime ago. Thanks to FamilyAid and the generous support of its donors, Jake, his mother, and Sam received emergency shelter and support services that steadied their lives and created a bridge from disaster to stability. By the time the winter holidays arrived, the family was living on its own again in a new apartment.
“I just want to thank all who belong to this beautiful and charitable institution,” Jenny recently wrote in a letter to her case worker, Sherri Strickland. “Thank you for being present with a helping hand in our most difficult moments. It didn’t make any difference who we were. You were there to care for us. You made this beautiful place (the shelter) feel like a home. And now, because of you, our lives have improved, and my peace has returned.”
Their story isn’t unique. FamilyAid served more than 4,600 homeless children and parents over the last twelve months. Our 135 emergency shelters provide families a safe place and expert help to find homes, jobs, schools, health services, and the other resources they need to succeed. During their time in shelter – on average 13 months – each family member works with their FamilyAid team to address the barriers they face in returning to a stable home they can call their own.
For Jake, Sam and Jenny, that support included private financial assistance from funder Gerstner Philanthropies to get back on their feet and into an affordable home. And with FamilyAid’s stable housing supports, they’re building the resiliency to stay there permanently. FamilyAid has one of the highest housing retention rates in the entire country, with 99% of families remaining stably housed one year after leaving shelter. While the negative impacts of homelessness can last a lifetime, stable housing plus expert support for every family member are the ingredients in FamilyAid’s “secret sauce” that help every child in our care thrive long term.
