Featured: Marie’s Story
As we all know, Ellis County faces a shortage of affordable housing options for our residents. This crisis is exacerbated for many of our clients, who are newly-single parents and now facing a need to support their household alone while juggling work, childcare, and parenting. Most apartments in our area that offer units large enough for families and priced for lower income households have 3-6 month waiting lists, or more! So you can imagine our delight and surprise this March when we found an apartment complex in Waxahachie that had just opened availability for 2 and 3-bedroom units!
We had the perfect client in mind. After a successful round of services with the Heights stabilizing her domestic violence situation, our client Marie reached out to us again when she learned that her abuser was about to be released on parole. She needed a safe place to live urgently, as he would be returning to the house where she and her kids had been staying. When Marie and her kids saw the apartment, they knew this would be a perfect next spot where they could begin their lives again. The only catch? Competition was fierce for these coveted units and we needed to get her application in as quickly as possible.
Marie needed to come up with a significant security deposit to submit her application. If she couldn't come up with that money by the next day, the apartment would pass on to the next applicant. The stress was high, and Marie was not only at risk for her safety at home, but also risking disappointing her kids, who had grown quite excited about the on-site basketball court at the new complex!
Through our partnership with CarePortal, we have direct access to a generous community of churches, donors and concerned citizens. We put up an urgent request to help Marie fund the security deposit within 24-hours. Less than 6 hours later, our benevolent neighbors at Faith Fellowship answered the call! Between a combination of their benevolence fund and private donations, they raised the full amount and were able to meet Marie at the apartment complex the next day to deliver the money order and help Marie complete the application.
Marie was so happy and grateful to receive this level of support from total strangers, and the members of Faith Fellowship were able to offer encouragement and prayers directly to Marie and her kids when they all met at the apartment to transfer the funds.
It was a truly beautiful collaboration between partners, and one that made possible a whole new start for a sustainable life for this lovely family. Pictured above from left to right is The Heights Housing Coordinator Erika Allison, Faith Fellowship donor, and Marie.