“I love my new place, my new job, my whole new life! I knew as soon as I saw my new place that it was just right for me and my daughter. It is huge! The rooms are really large and it’s quiet but also really easy to get places from our building. And my daughter is doing so well in her new school. She loves her teacher and has made a bunch of new friends. Sure leaving New Ground was hard. I thought I had everything. But once I found my place I think I was able to see how much more I could still have.”
Beth came to New Ground shortly after graduating high school with a very young child. She had never lived on her own but was determined to accomplish certain goals that would allow her to support her family for the future.
“I was really young when I started. I know I was hard to work with. I think I thought I knew it all already. Boy was I wrong! It was really hard to let someone in, and have the program telling me how to do things. I know I fought it at first. But by the end I really came to see how it was all for me, for my family, to help us succeed. New Ground taught me a lot of things I never learned growing up. Wouldn’t it be great if they had classes like that in school! Like how to budget, and make good choices, and be smart about credit. No one teaches that stuff, at least no one I knew. I had to learn it late when I was struggling to handle my baby girl and everything.”
During five years in the program, Beth completed a vocational program and some college courses, secured a fulltime job in her new career field with benefits and significantly higher earnings, increased her credit score and paid off her debts, and purchased an affordable, reliable vehicle. She then applied to moderate-income housing and in a very short period of time, was accepted and able to move into her new apartment.
“I’m so grateful for everything that happened and all the help.”