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Gwen
Builds a Promising and Healthy New Life
After escaping a domestic
violence situation from the father of her toddler son, Gwen
sought refuge with her sister who was also a landlord. However,
the situation only got worse, Gwen’s sister repeatedly
assaulted her in front of her own son, eventually throwing
them out on the streets and changing the locks. With no place
to turn Gwen and her son began to live out of their car, until
they found an assistance program with Exodus Housing.
At the time, Gwen had both a
long and stable employment history, however a bankruptcy filed
with the father of her son prevented her from finding a landlord
willing to rent her a home. When Gwen entered the program
at Exodus Housing, the staff worked closely with her to develop
a detailed debt management plan, and with continued support
from her case manager and volunteers she was able to repay
the majority of her debts to creditors. But that was not the
end of the struggles for Gwen. Just two months before completing
the program with Exodus Housing, Gwen was forced to quit her
job because her work environment was so toxic it required
hospitalization.
Nonetheless, with her newly-acquired
budgeting skills and a significantly improved credit record,
she was able to save for move-in costs, and successfully found
a beautiful duplex to call home. In addition, Gwen’s
case manager continued to provide follow-up employment support
services, and she found a new job with a Tacoma engineering
firm.
Thanks to the support of United
Way funded programs like Exodus Housing, Gwen now has a job
and home that she loves, and a new school for her son.
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