We can’t help but smile when we see this photo of our rapid re-housing client, Gina, with her Community of Hope case manager, Jackie. Gina’s excitement and joy can hardly be contained by her grin. When this photo was taken last month, she had just signed a lease for her very own apartment. Lease signing – for anyone – is a happy occasion. Moving to a new home marks a new beginning but, for Gina, this was so much more – this lease ended Gina’s homelessness. For the first time in eight years, Gina has her own home.
Bouncing from couch to couch or relying on the crowded DC General shelter, Gina hasn’t had a stable home since age 14. Immediately before coming to Community of Hope and signing her first-ever lease, she and her children had been in shelter, anxiously awaiting the housing solution that would best suit her family’s needs.
Then, after 8 months in shelter, Gina was accepted into Community of Hope’s rapid re-housing program. Gina began working with her case manager, Jackie, and Community of Hope’s Housing Specialist, Kay, to find an apartment. After searching for and finding an affordable apartment, a landlord accepted her application.
Now an official leaseholder for two months, Gina is a pro at balancing her goals and responsibilities. She has communicated with her landlord about minor repairs in the unit, has paid her rent in full and on time, and still manages to both care for her kids and work toward her primary goal – getting a job. In the coming months, she will work with our employment specialists to increase her income. After achieving that goal, Gina wants to go back to school to get her GED so that she can get a better-paying job and become more self-sufficient. Way to go, Gina!
To learn more about Rapid Re-Housing, the program that helped Ms. G beat homelessness, see this blog post from Jamey Burden, Community of Hope’s Director of Housing, Programs and Policy.
