Landing in the wrong circle of friends, Fatima began smoking and drinking at age 10. As a preteen, she was given freedom without the tools to navigate it. Her family dynamics were difficult, and at an early age she felt neglected and left to fend for herself. And I couldn’t have gotten here without Hope House to get me started,” says Brittani.įatima’s childhood felt very lonely and isolated. “For the first time in my life, I feel stable and stress free. Brittani and her boyfriend are working on their credit score so they can buy a house. Her daughter goes to school a half block away and loves it. She has been living in the same duplex for two years, which is longer than she has lived anywhere in her life. Today Brittani has finished her degree program and works full time as a Medical Assistant with benefits… and she loves her job! She also met with her Hope House mentor regularly and took Parenting classes at Hope House. One of her friends told her about Hope House, where she earned her GED so she could go on to college. īrittani named her baby girl Deavyne and set out to create a different life for her daughter than she had known growing up. Dropping out of school in 10th grade, Brittani was pregnant by age 15. With support from our College & Career Program, she found a customer service position at PC’s for People, a non-profit organization that provides computers to low-income individuals (I love seeing the process come full circle in her life!).īrittani was born into poverty and chaos - and her mother struggled with cancer and her father with kidney failure. Stephanie’s last requirement was to find full-time employment. She also completed our Parenting, Healthy Relationships, and Financial Literacy classes – as well as an internship at Head Start. She knew she would have to work hard - her first educational assessment placed her at 5th grade.Īnd so she worked hard! I am proud to say Stephanie earned her high school diploma through one of our online high school partners. She was sleeping with her baby girl on a couch in a crowded mobile home.įortunately Stephanie found Hope House. By the time her daughter was born, her boyfriend was gone. Stephanie grew up in generational poverty, became a mom as a teenager and dropped out of school. Her background is not uncommon around Hope House. Stephanie is no longer the vulnerable, frightened teen mom who applied to Hope House. She also now owns her very own house, where she and her boys are thriving! Today Janelle is loving her job, where she gets to use the skills she learned in college. When she graduated, she was offered a job at Ball Aerospace as a machinist. The tutors at Hope House helped Janelle when she needed it, and she stuck with the program. With the support of our College & Career Program, Janelle applied to the Community College of Denver and began working toward a certification in machining. Six months later, Janelle had earned her GED and had found her own confidence. Surrounded by staff and volunteers who encouraged her, Janelle began to feel hope. She found Hope House online and enrolled in our GED Program. Sleeping in a car was actually a good night because the ground was cold and the shelters were crowded, smelly and scary. Janelle and her boys eventually became homeless - sleeping in a car, on the ground, or in homeless shelters. By the time he turned four, Janelle had another baby boy. By the time Joseph was born, Janelle had stopped going to school. Janelle ended up meeting an older boy – and they connected deeply as they shared stories from their rough childhoods.īy age 14, Janelle was pregnant, and that same boyfriend became abusive, leaving her with bruises make-up couldn’t cover. Although Janelle and her brothers were already used to living in chaos, now they were left on the sidelines, trying to take care of themselves. She was 12 when her parents’ fights and addictions led them to split. Janelle remembers when her world crumbled.
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