Alumni Families

Alumni Families

LATREESE

Latreese graduated from Bridge of Hope Harrisburg Area in the spring of 2023. Before coming to our program, she struggled to get a job to support herself and her children. No one could see past her speech impediment. They didn’t see a single mother working hard to provide for her children. They didn’t see a young woman trying to better herself. They just saw a woman who struggled to get her words out. Every employer Latreese went to turned her down after the first interview.

Latreese told us, “I reached out to the program because I was in a bad place at the time. I wasn’t working for quite some time because it was very rough for me to get a job, mainly because nobody could see past my speech impediment. I stutter.”

Finding a job was imperative. Latreese was a single mother facing homelessness. She needed to work. She wanted to work. She wanted to provide for her family, but the decisions of others and circumstances out of her control always took her choices.

“I’m never the person to ask for help. I always made everything happen with just the little bit of money I had, and I made sure my children were well taken care of. I was also doing school while I wasn’t working. I was working on my degree to move up in the world and show my girls we could do stuff. We just had to try harder. I wanted to do better for myself and my children.

I had to be patient and wait, and then I found the program [Bridge of Hope Harrisburg Area], and it’s been blessing me since. Just having people believe in you and have God by your side also, you can do anything you put your mind to. The Bridge of Hope program is a wonderful opportunity to be a part of, and I met some wonderful people and people that are so genuine and kind and just love me and my kids as if we were family.” Congratulations Latreese!  We are so proud of you!

AMY

Before Bridge of Hope Harrisburg Area, Amy received a job offer that was good for her family financially, but it was three hours away from home. She was living with friends, but there wasn’t room for her children, so her children lived three hours away. She would go several agonizing weeks without seeing them. “Emotionally, we all were hurting and longing for stability and consistent time together,” Amy shared.

Amy said she didn’t have all the answers to her children’s questions about where they would live. “I held back tears and prayed with them,” she said. The situation felt hopeless, and her boys were looking to her to fix it. “I told them what faith really meant and how even though we couldn’t see how it would work out, we had to believe that God would take care of us,” said Amy. “And that he makes the impossible possible. I told my boys that even though we couldn’t see why we were going through tough times, we were putting it all in God’s hands and believing in a miracle.”

Some of Amy’s goals were to grow in her career, finish her degree in business management, continue to grow in her relationship with her Neighboring Volunteers, and save to own her own home. She has made much progress toward those goals.

Today, Amy has secured a full-time job she loves; her children are thriving in school and are involved in summer activities. She developed strong bonds of friendship with her Neighboring Volunteers, and Amy looks forward to joining a Neighboring Volunteer group so she can be a neighbor to a new mom. Congratulations, Amy, and thank you for being willing to help other single homeless moms.

JANINE

For eight long months, Janine lived in a hotel room with two double beds, three children, two of whom were teenage twin boys, and worked two jobs. She was trying to keep her family together and housed in any way she could. She didn’t want to call a hotel her home, and she could see the toll it was taking on her children, but returning to their former home meant walking back into domestic violence that wasn’t safe for any of them.

Janine was forced to leave a shelter with her three children and into a hotel because of the coronavirus. She was working a lot and parenting alone. But no matter how hard she worked or how much she sacrificed for her children, nothing she did seemed enough to change their circumstances.

Amazingly, had a friend who just happened to be a Bridge of Hope Harrisburg Area graduate and wanted to offer Janine the same hope that changed her family a couple of years prior. She encouraged Janine to reach out to us.

Janine asked us to share this, ‘‘Bridge of Hope has helped me in many ways. They brought people into my life who gave me the strength to know and believe that I can do anything I set out to do. Getting to know these people helped me see that there are good people in the world, helped me believe in myself with their positive feedback, and, most importantly, helped me find ways to help my children make good friends and have positive outings. They gave them a support system within the church where they can learn to trust again.’’

Janine graduated form Bridge of Hope Harrisburg Area in 2023. She began taking classes to finish her degree while she was with us. She’s proud to say that despite working two jobs, helping her children do school from a tiny hotel room, navigating a move to a new home (thanks to the help of her Neighboring Volunteers), and landing a promotion to help better support her family, she’s been able to maintain ‘‘As’’ and ‘‘Bs’’ in all her classes. Her sons have regained confidence and emotional health with the relationships they built through their church youth group. Well done Janine!  Congratulations!

MELISSA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyUE3s2jzYU

LAURA

NAYR

SARAH

BERLESHA

“This program has been life-changing for me and my family and it’s something that no one can ever take away. That’s what I love about it. This program, it’s not just about the immediate need, it’s life-changing and life-impacting. Without this program, honestly, I don’t know where I would be. I thank God every day for the people he brought into my life through the program. Being a graduate of this program, I’m so excited to give back to help moms, to help children, and to just know that we’re all broken, but there are people that are cheering for you and rooting for you. It takes a community to change things.” – Berlesha, Program Graduate

Mary

When Mary came to Bridge of Hope Harrisburg Area she was alone and lacking positive relationships with her family. She was working hard but not earning enough money to support her son. Since she’s come to Bridge of Hope Harrisburg Area, Mary has built a resilient family through her hard work, persistence, and with the support of her Neighboring Volunteers.

Mary once told us that home is a place where her family is united. Mary has a permanent home now, she’s got a good job with potential for growth and further education, and she’s pursuing a career in a field she loves. Mary’s son is getting a good education, has stability in his life, and is getting the support he needs to grow.

Mary told us that she believed her family’s greatest strength is the bond they have and that they are a happy family. Since she’s been with Bridge of Hope Harrisburg Area, Mary’s bond with her son has been evident as she’s a loving mother and dedicated to seeing her family thrive. We are happy for Mary and count it a privilege to have been a part of her amazing story!

Traci

When Traci entered the Bridge of Hope Harrisburg Area program she was homeless with two small children. She believed her family’s greatest strength was their unity and said they were a charismatic bunch! Traci’s extended family lived in another country and she had few friends, which left her with little support to call on when life got difficult.

Traci’s children were living with a friend and she was struggling to support her family for the long-term. Traci worked hard and had begun her own cleaning business, but she needed a driver’s license, transportation and relationships to lean on to make it all work. When she came to Bridge of Hope Harrisburg Area, her goals were to grow her business large enough to be able to employ other single mothers like herself and own a company car and learn important financial management skills. Traci wanted to provide for her children a safe home with space of their own. She wanted to see them thriving in a secure school environment with lots of friends.

Traci has worked very hard since she’s been in this program and has built her business to where she has a waiting list of clients! Her children are stable and growing, her family has secure, long-term housing, she has reliable transportation and learned much about financial management! We are incredibly proud of Traci and all she has accomplished. She’s a strong and resilient woman who’s got great things ahead!