Summary
In just three months, Michelle’s hard work and determination turned her family’s life around. She got sober, found employment, started her bachelor’s degree, enrolled her son in daycare, and secured housing with the support of CATCH’s Linda Fund. Her story is a testament to the incredible resilience it takes to rebuild one’s life and secure stable housing. Moving into an apartment of her own with her son and best friend Heather days before Thanksgiving and her birthday, Michelle referred to her key-turning moment as a “Thanksgiving and birthday miracle!”
Before CATCH
Last Thanksgiving, Michelle was living with her brother in Meridian when a sudden medical crisis left her brother close to death and late on the rent. Even though the rent was ultimately paid four days late, they were evicted from their home with nowhere to go. Their eviction, coupled with Michelle’s substance use led Michelle to experience homelessness for the first time in her life.
Michelle and her young son, Manny, were in and out of shelters for about a year before finding housing of their own with the support of CATCH. Michelle would push Manny around in his stroller for about six miles a day while she approached different community resources looking for pathways to employment, housing, childcare, and sobriety.
“It was a horrible feeling to be homeless with my kid,” Michelle said. “I have never felt so low in my life because I had never been homeless before. For me to be walking to a shelter every day and then having to leave at a certain time in the morning, not being able to rest when I needed to, or not having the things to provide for my son when I needed to—someone else was doing it for me. It sucked.”
One day, she met a woman named Heather who offered to give her a ride. She shared that she had seen Michelle walking for hours nonstop everyday and was eager to let her rest. Michelle shared that she was walking for hours a day because she was determined to get herself and her son out of the shelter as quickly as possible. From there, they became close friends and Heather’s steadiness became an integral part of Michelle’s journey to sobriety. “She was my lifesaver at that moment,” Michelle recalled.
About nine months into staying in the shelter, Michelle committed to getting sober. “My life just completely turned around,” she shared. Heather had also been looking for housing for months, but to no avail. Then, Michelle connected with CATCH during their outreach at the shelter she and her son were staying at. The CATCH team shared that the waitlist for the Family Program was quite long, but if Michelle could find employment, funding from the Linda Fund could support her secure housing of her own faster.
“I knew I was going to get a job,” Michelle said. “I put everything I had in me into finding a job, and I knew for a fact that I would get one.”
Within three weeks, she had found employment. And within two weeks of securing employment, Michelle and her family moved into housing of their own. “I just started crying because I was just so excited to get my son out of the shelter. It was just really a big blessing to get out of the shelter and into my own place.”
During CATCH
CATCH primarily assisted with the first month’s rent and deposit that helped Michelle, Heather, and Manny move into a home of their own. “It was a lot faster than I ever expected it to be,” Michelle remembered. “CATCH got us into this apartment within two weeks of having a job.”
Michelle shared that when she received the keys she started jumping up and down in excitement and told her son: “Manny, we’re going home tomorrow.” When they arrived at their new apartment, CATCH had provided furnishings and amenities to help it feel like a home.
In a heartwarming coincidence, Michelle received the keys to her apartment a couple days before her birthday and Thanksgiving, calling the moment a “Thanksgiving and birthday miracle.”
Michelle and her friend Heather were invited to ring the CATCH bell, a moment Michelle described as heartwarming. “I felt so excited because I knew it was real. I knew it was going to happen,” she said. “I knew my son was going to get out of the shelter.”
In the span of three months, Michelle turned her family’s life around: she got sober, found employment, found an apartment of her own, enrolled her son in daycare, and even enrolled herself in college coursework for her bachelors in criminal justice.
“It’s a lot of hard work,” she said. “People say it’s impossible, but it’s not really impossible if I’ve done it. It’s just one foot in front of the other constantly. I did not take a moment to stop.”
After CATCH
From the time Michelle connected with CATCH to the moment she turned the key to an apartment of her own was less than a month. Now, Michelle and her family are settling into their new routine.
“I’m most proud of showing my son a good example now,” Michelle shared. “Also proving to myself that I can change my life around in three months.”
Today, Michelle’s life remains busy, but she has a stable place to come home to every night. Her daily routine reflects the hard work she put into turning her life around, balancing work, school, and caring for her son.
“Sometimes life goes one way, or a curveball is thrown at us, but CATCH is there to help people,” Michelle said. “We do the work, but CATCH is there to support us. CATCH is probably one of the best community resources I’ve come across that has truly made me feel loved and supported.”