Kenya* and her three children came to House of Ruth to flee an abusive situation. They found safety and support at A New Way, our transitional housing for survivors of domestic violence. That was the beginning of their journey at House of Ruth.
Kenya is inspiring, a go-getter who has successfully drawn on the support available to her through House of Ruth to make her goals a reality. Her admirable resourcefulness was obvious from the very beginning. Upon arrival at A New Way, our staff supported Kenya in identifying her goals and next steps. Her top priority was finding housing for her family. When she learned about the possibility of graduating to our more independent Bridges program, she knew she was prepared to put the work in to qualify. Bridges enables clients to receive income-based rental assistance for an apartment in the community, and the assistance gradually decreases as the client becomes completely independent. The first step toward qualifying was finding a job, and the next step was saving at least $1,000.
After two months of proactive job searching, Kenya secured a great job with Metro. She works the night shift so she has more time to be with her children. She soon exceeded her goal to save $1,000. Our staff worked with Kenya to help her improve her credit score. This improvement enabled her to purchase a more reliable car, and made it possible for her to secure an apartment when she was ready to transition to the Bridges program. She has fallen in love with the apartment and thanks to furniture obtained through A Wider Circle, she has made it a beautiful home for her children.
Our staff has witnessed Kenya’s ebullient spirit and vivaciousness even in the face of tremendous challenges and the anxiety she has experienced while facing them. She has taken care of herself and her family. As her children have experienced emotional and behavioral issues in response to the abuse they witnessed, Kenya has made sure they attend family therapy to work on healing and overcoming these challenges. She participated in weekly group counseling herself.
We have been honored to support Kenya as she turned her anxiety into hope for the future, and to celebrate with her as she blossomed and reached her goals.
*Name has been changed.