The pleasure in Brent and Ashley’s family life often comes from the natural world: walking in the woods with their three boys has long been a favorite activity. But for years, financial stress and lack of a permanent home made it difficult to enjoy even simple pleasures.
Ashley and Brent had never had a place of their own before. While raising three boys, they bounced between temporary stays with family. Finally having worn out their options last summer, they moved to a campground.
With winter on the way, Ashley and Brent began even more fervently pursuing a stable environment for their three sons. They felt out of their element in searching for housing and knew they needed help reaching financial stability. “We were at our very rock bottom, with nothing but a few possessions,” remembers Ashley.
Like hundreds of families in the Lansing area, they needed Haven House—but with our seven bedrooms full, they were among dozens calling day after day, seeking a room in our shelter. Ashley and Brent called every day at eight in the morning for two weeks straight before there was finally a space available for their family. Ashley recalls the relief she felt when they entered shelter: “We were invited to stay at Haven House. They helped us build the foundation for our new lives.”
While in shelter, Ashley and Brent were both able to secure and maintain employment. They worked opposite schedules so that one of them would always be available to watch their boys, ages five, four and one. The couple worked hard to create a routine for their children and spent time every day searching for a home of their own. Each day, Haven House staff met with the parents to help them stay on track with their goals. Ashley says, “Haven House was in fact the biggest blessing of our lives. If it weren’t for the staff from Haven House we would still be homeless and hopeless.”
While they hoped to move to a more rural area of town, affordable housing in these areas was hard to find, so the couple focused their housing search in the City of Lansing. Exactly one month after entering shelter, Ashley and Brent moved into their first apartment. They have both sustained the employment they found while in shelter, with Brent advancing to a full-time position and Ashley taking on a second part-time job.
By maintaining consistent employment, and paying rent and other bills on time every month, the couple has significantly improved life for their family. All of this was possible thanks to your support of Haven House’s successful rehousing program. Six months into tenancy in their first apartment, Ashley and Brent received the exciting news that they were at long last being selected from a waiting list to participate in a subsidized housing program for low-income families.
Unfortunately, their apartment—which they liked, and had begun to feel like home—was not eligible for this program. But Ashley and Brent realized the long-term positive impact that subsidized housing would have for their family’s financial stability. So, with the help of Haven House’s Partners in Progress program, they once again worked to find a new home for their family which would qualify for this ongoing rent-assistance.
With careful planning, they worked hard to save the money they would need: the fee to break their lease, plus first-month’s rent and security deposit for their new subsidized unit. Through difficulty and determination, they found their home on the outskirts of the town they had dreamt of moving to. This was a major accomplishment for a family who had been homeless less than one year ago.
Ashley and Brent look forward to staying in this home for the next several years. In the meantime, they are already planning their next long-term goal: home ownership. Ashley, Brent and the boys successfully engaged with Haven House’s programs to overcome their housing crisis and reach a home of their own. Their oldest two boys are excited to have their pet snake and frog with them and to explore their neighborhood, finding more creatures along the way.