"Thank you SSIHC and my SSIHC mentor team for caring about a stranger and her children"

I am happy to tell you my story and how the SSIHC program helped me and my children. I came in this program May 3, 2006, after spending 6 months in a pre release center in Rockville, MD and 5 years in Alderson, WV Federal Prison for women. I was introduced to this program by my case manager at the pre release center where I had to go through 3 interviews at SSIHC before being selected out of 3 other women. I needed a place to live and at the time I had 2 children that I had been away from for 5 years and 6 months. The program gave me a two bedroom apartment, four mentors and a case manager to help me along the way of my two year contract with SSIHC. While I was away, my children were split between two different households. My daughter lived in Delaware and my son was in Largo, MD. SSIHC helped me to reunite with my children under one roof and that had to be the happiest day of my life. 

My mentors have gone the extra mile of helping me with my children at their own expense. I continued to work the same job that I had in the pre release center which was a hostess at a steakhouse in Gaithersburg, MD where I made $9.00/hour and worked late hours. I had very little time to spend with my children. The children were not used to me at all and my son really didn't know who I was because I had been gone since he was a baby. This bothered me a lot because I wanted my children to get used to me and to each other.   SSIHC came up with a plan whereby they would give me 90 days to reunite with my children and they would pay all my expenses. This meant that I would leave my job and stay home with my children and SSIHC would cover all my living expenses. I was in total shock when the program gave me this offer because I've never in my life had someone who cared about me and my children that much. I didn't really know how to react to such an offer. I was overwhelmed with joy that I was going to finally get the chance to stay home with my children and help them understand that we are a family again. I was going to do my very best to keep us that way. 

In the SSIHC program, I had to meet with my case manager every week to go over my goals and plans to be successful.  I had alot of pressure applied to me because I was the first person in the program that was a prior felon.  The program called for a lot of self work to put your life back together and prepared me for the end of the program. I was determined that I was going to make it through the program successfully and make a better life for me and my children. 

When my 90 days of reunification with my children were up, I took a job in retail at Old Navy where I worked for 2 years. During this period, I also searched for a better job and I go no replies. I became devastated and frustrated but I looked at my children and I persevered and never gave up.  In May 2008, I graduated from the SSIHC program and received a coveted HOC voucher to get a 3 bedroom apartment or townhouse. The search was difficult but I finally found a 3 bedroom townhouse for me and my children.  That August, I moved out of the SSIHC housing to my new 3 bedroom townhome. I finally finished my work at Old Navy and have been accepted by Metro to be a bus driver. I am also working with SSIHC as a consultant to offer them insight into how programs can be improved to better help people in their everyday struggle with homelessness.  I feel that clients in this program just need someone to care about them and help them to a fresh start in life. I can truly say my life is coming together and moving forward. THANK YOU SSIHC and my mentor team for caring about a stranger and her children.

-B.J., December 2008