When you live on the edge, sometimes you fall off.  This was the case with Jennifer. 

Jennifer had a stable, yet low-paying, job at a local drug store.  She shared an apartment with a friend.   Jennifer’s roommate watched Jennifer’s children during the day while she worked and Jennifer returned the favor by watching her roommate’s children at night, when the roommate went to her night job. The arrangement worked for a time.

Then the roommate moved.  And Jennifer and her two young children could not manage. Matters were even more complicated because her son suffers from kidney disease and speech and hearing impediments.  With a sick child, with no health care and no home, Jennifer was alone, afraid and desperate.

It was at BPHI’s Homeless Assistance Center that she found hope.

For starters, Jennifer and her children received three nutritious meals a day and a safe and secure place to live while Jennifer looked for ways to get medical care for her son and a place for the family to live. While at the Center, the family had access to daycare and Jennifer entered the Workforce Development Center’s (WDC) job training program.
  
But the most important service Jennifer found was medical care for her son. Her caseworker found a kidney specialist to treat her son and a therapist to provide one-on-one treatment for his speech and hearing. 

With her children’s immediate needs under control, Jennifer focused on her financial stability.  She took a job as temp while she used the WDC to hone her skills. Now qualified for full-time work with computers, Jennifer hopes to increase her earning capacity by landing a job in that sector. Her goal is to find employment well-above minimum-wage level and move her family to transitional housing.

“I’m thankful I had somewhere to stay and deal with all my ‘stuff,’” she said.  I’m thankful to be safe … If BPHI wasn’t here to help, me and my children would be on the streets."