Renae

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Renae, her husband and her three children had been living in a homeless shelter for almost a year when they came into the New Ground Program.  Over the first two years, we struggled to help the family make progress.  Despite our hardest efforts, most interventions were failing and it was difficult to understand why.  And then Renae let us know what was happening behind closed doors in her relationship with her husband.

“I really have so much to be grateful for to New Ground. For many years I didn’t want to see what was getting in my way.  Once I did it made huge differences in my life, in all our lives.”

Renae’s husband was emotionally and verbally abusive.  Whenever she or the children took steps to improve their lives, he would tear down their efforts and belittle them until they too gave up and believed they were never meant to succeed.  But something had changed for Renae during her early years with New Ground, and she began to see that she could have more and achieve her goals.  She separated from her husband and filed for divorce.  She refocused on her education and employment goals and her children, and the family began to make real progress.   The two older children’s grades improved in school and they began to make honor roll.

Renae completed a vocational program for advancement with her employer, took and passed the required exam and earned a significant promotion and increase in income.  She learned budgeting skills, saved the funds needed to move, and after six years with New Ground the family moved into their own apartment.

“Thank you for helping me put my life back together, and coming so far.  When we started in the program we didn’t even know all the problems we had or where we would end up.  But it was all for the better.  And now my children and I are in a good place and whole again and excited to be having a place of our own.”

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