Alicia's Journey to Success!

Post by Lisa DeMarco

Alicia is a single mother with two teenage daughters.  After 10 years of physical and financial abuse from her husband she found the courage to leave. She knew it would be difficult supporting herself and her two children on her own — but she had a stable job and the determination to make it work.  She could have never expected what happened next — after working at the same Retirement Home for 13 years, the company was sold and she was let go without warning. She was an exemplary employee and had even recently been named “Employee of the Year” — but it wasn’t enough.

Without a vehicle, Alicia walked several miles each day looking for work.  It seemed nearly impossible to find another job within walking distance of her apartment. Four days before she was to be evicted, she begged a man at a nearby hotel for a job doing laundry.

“After everything I have been through, the hardest day of my life was when I had to sit my two girls down and tell them we may need to move back to Mexico,” says Alicia. “Everything I do is for my girls, their education, their happiness — I was heartbroken.”

Alicia is a very proud person, she had never received any government assistance or food assistance and it was extremely hard for her to ask for help. But for the sake of her daughters, she knew she had no choice. She found a Home Start office just around the corner from her apartment, taking a deep breath she went in. And that is when she learned she wasn’t alone — there were people who cared and could help her family make a fresh start.  Since becoming a Home Start client she has received housing, food and transportation assistance to help her get back on her feet. Currently, Alicia has a new job, is caught up with rent, and her children are doing well in school.