GIHN Success Stories

This single mom and her 15 year old son came into the program following many unstable transitions, including a living situation where the family was separated. Mom was involved in a domestic violence dispute which left them displaced for over a year. She moved from a battered women’s shelter to a friend’s house to a shelter for single women. She left her son with his older brother, which was not a healthy environment. She decided that she needed to be with her son and was approved for the Network just before his school began in the fall of 2008. GIHN helped mom with the registration process for school and in securing uniforms for her son. Because mom had had an aneurism several years before and because the son suffers from PTSD, GIHN assisted with helping them understand the disability process and to gather paperwork for housing, DSS benefits, and SSI. GIHN also assisted mom advocate for her son to receive support and counseling services. During her stay here at GIHN, the police picked up her adult son for trespassing because he was homeless. Being an adult he did not qualify for GIHN, however, we advocated for him and contacted some community resources. As a result he is in a male residential, mentoring program and is attending GTCC. Mom now receives assistance from DSS, which includes community support because of her short term memory loss. She lives in public housing and her younger son is attending the high school.

Another Mom with 2 sons, 9 & 7, moved into the program after living with her sister and her large family in a 2 bedroom house. The mom had been evicted due to unemployment and mismanagement of funds. One of her sons had a learning disability, and she received child support, food stamps, and Medicaid & SSI for the disabled child when she entered the program. Even though the family had income, mom had marketable skills, so GIHN helped her write a resume and encouraged her to look for work. She obtained employment and applied for Medicaid for herself and other son. GIHN worked with the mom on budgeting, paying past due debts, and helped her understand the difference between wants & needs. We also referred her to agencies to help her with parenting her ADHD child and to rely less on medicating him. At the end of her stay, the family graduated and moved into a private rental home. GIHN was  able to assist her with furniture donations from the Network.

This mom, daughter 7, and son 9 were admitted into GIHN through a referral from the human department at her work. The mom had brought the children to work and was not able to be productive that day because of a violent domestic dispute with her husband. Afterward, he forced them to leave home. Because the mother had stable income, she was able to find housing quickly. The children were able to transfer smoothly into the neighborhood school, and the mom was encouraged to meet with the school social worker to get the children crisis intervention counseling. GIHN also helped her secure uniforms for the children and to create a budget plan. Mom was able to save money and move into a place of her own in less than a month. She had some past outstanding utility bills which she paid during her short time in the Network. GIHN assisted her to get necessary household items, too. 

A dad and mom with their three children, two boys and a girl, moved into the Network during November after being evicted from their home. Dad found employment while in the Network, two part-time jobs, and was able to save money for deposits. They moved into a 3 bedroom apartment. Since graduating from GIHN, this family continues to do well. Dad now has a full time job that pays well, and mom is enrolled in school pursuing a Criminal Justice/Crime Scene Investigation degree. The two older children continue to do well in school. The family has recently moved out of their apartment into a rent-to-own house. They expressed appreciation for all the kindnesses that were shown to them while they were in the Network. Dad confessed feeling apprehension about having to move his family into a shelter and was focused on “hurrying to get them out of there as quickly as possible.” But once he and his family were in the Network, they began to relax. The small group of families in the Network and the volunteers were very friendly and made them feel welcomed. Knowing that there were supportive people around helped lessen their burden. Dad now says, “When people are going through a serious hardship [like homelessness], being around people who are friendly and encouraging makes all the difference and means so much.”

A mom with 3 children had been laid off from her job and fell behind on rent about the time school started. Being in the Network allowed the mom to save money from her unemployment. She quickly moved into affordable, low-income housing. While in the Network mom enrolled in a tax preparation class. The grateful mom feels that the program really helped her when she was in need of shelter. She remembers that the churches and volunteers were very nice to her family. She is currently doing well and remains in her apartment. The kids have also adjusted well to being in their new place. She tells us, “I will never forget GIHN. It really helped me to get back on my feet. I just want to say thanks so much to everyone!”