Southeast CDC’s Family Stability Program provides case management services and financial assistance to families who have a utility turn off notice or who are at risk of losing their home. Read on for an inspirational story of how our staff support their clients.
By the time Angela enrolled in the Family Stability Program in March of 2017, her situation was about as dire as you could get. Typically, the program gets involved to help families prevent homelessness and strengthen roots in children’s school districts. Angela was not trying to fight homelessness; she was already immersed in it, along with her four children.
The Shelter Diversion Program – available through the United Way of Central Maryland – was at capacity, and Angela was running out of options. It was then that she reached out to the Family Stability Program case manager at Southeast CDC. While her situation was unique, Angela was able to enroll her family in the program and put them on the road to stability.
With a poor credit score and an income comprised of Temporary Cash Assistance and Social Security benefits, Angela’s road to stability had plenty of twists and turns – and more than its fair share of potholes. Many landlords gave barely a passing glance to her leasing applications. The ones that accepted them wanted double security deposits for what they deemed a credit risk. Though prospects seemed dim, Angela pressed on with the help of her FSP case manager and secured a house for her family in June 2017. The program’s client-assistance funds covered moving costs, and those same funds ensured that her children would be able to sleep on their own mattresses every night.
Once Angela and her children were secure in their new home, meetings with her case manager focused on ways to sustain her family’s new life. Priorities such as employment and money management took the front seat. Through an FSP referral, she became enrolled in an employment training program at the Goodwill, and a Value Village shopping trip with her case manager had her dressing for success while she learned. Angela graduated from the Family Stability Program in February 2018. Using everything she has learned, she has stayed on top of rent and utilities for the house she secured. Her children can attend each school day at Highlandtown #237 with confidence, knowing that at the end of each day, they have a home to go back to – with a hardworking mother who made it all happen.
*All names have been changed.
Featured artwork by Maria Cavacos.