‘Hope’ in Albuquerque

Last year, Hope’s life began falling apart after she gave birth to her son Elijah. She was unable to make ends meet with her part-time job at a fast food restaurant. She had lost custody of her two older daughters and now found herself homeless with no stable environment to care for her son.  Then in February 2013, Hope found the help she desperately needed through MCH Family Outreach in Albuquerque. MCH Family Outreach teamed up with Transitional Living Services (TLS) in Albuquerque to begin the process to help Hope rebuild her life.

MCH Family Outreach case manager Ginger Lawlor began working with Hope and her partner of six years in February to get them on a path to put their lives back together. Hope and Elijah were provided housing through TLS and moved into their home in June. Lawlor said the process has been challenging for Hope but that she has made a lot of progress in recent weeks.

“She appeared to be losing hope when housing was finally on the horizon so my focus with her became to keep contact with her and inspire her to keep her focus on the future,” Lawlor said. “Now that the family is housed, she delights in the tasks of nurturing her nest. She has a good rapport with her housing case manager and likes their new location which is so handy to access busses and walk to nearby services. There are neighbors close by and she has already started making friends.”

Now that she has a stable, safe home for Elijah, Hope is determined to put her life back together. Before her struggles, she had completed a significant amount of coursework toward an associate’s degree. She wants to help people and feels she can best serve others by becoming a medical assistant. In the past, she has felt as if she disappointed her father, a local police officer, and wants to show him how she is overcoming her past struggles.

“My dad is my hero and my goal is to show him that I’m ok and his grandkids are ok. I want to make my dad happy and get my life straightened out,” she said.

The family is receiving family therapy and working to reestablish contact and hopefully someday reunite with their daughters as well. The next step will be to enroll in Nurturing Parenting courses through MCH and continue to work toward their goals to provide a stable, nurturing home for their family.

“The family had many serious issues prior to coming to MCH Family Outreach, but now that they are finally in a stable living situation, they can focus on healing and rebuilding their lives,” Lawlor said.