Max’s voice overflowed with pride as he recalled his daughter’s reaction to entering their new home for the very first time. “Just to see her smile as she walked up the steps and said, ‘Daddy this is our new house’ was amazing.” Last month, Max signed his first lease ever through Community of Hope’s rapid re-housing program.This single dad to three daughters can’t be happier about his family’s new found stability. “I have been through a lot in life,” he says, “but I am in love with my life right now.”
Max’s journey to this moment of serenity and stability has been a tumultuous one. Left paralyzed in his right foot after a potentially deadly shooting, his recovery period has been painful and drawn-out. Recovering from his injury and continuing to raise his daughters, Max awaited his family’s long term housing solution from inside the walls of DC General, the District’s overcrowded homeless shelter.
After nine long months at DC General, Max enrolled into Community of Hope’s rapid-rehousing program. With the assistance of his case worker and Community of Hope’s Housing Specialist, Max and his girls now have a place of their own — “HOME”. He is finally able to breathe a sigh of relief and begin “the second half of his life,” as he refers to it.
Filled with pride after achieving the incredible milestone of being a first-time leaseholder, to describe Max as “motivated” would be an understatement! Continuing to work with his Community of Hope case manager who helps him achieve the goals he has set for himself, Max is focused on his next big plans in life — going to college to study psychology and someday purchasing his first home!
