Hope in the midst of uncertainty

For those who are homeless, at risk of becoming homeless, or losing work hours and paychecks due to shutdowns and social distancing, this is an even more frightening time.  Lauren is one of those people.  She’s already in distress and recovering from the trauma of her situation. And now, the coronavirus is knocking at her door. 

Lauren was at work when she got the call she’d been waiting for. “It was Monica from Metro. She introduced herself and told me they had a space for us and we could move in that day,” she remembers.

“I couldn’t even respond. I was so emotional and cried tears of relief and joy.”

Earlier that day, Lauren had been praying for a miracle. Lauren had made the decision to uproot her kids and leave a stable situation to stay with her brother, who was dealing with severe heart problems. But before they even arrived, her sister-in-law texted to let her know that the room they were going to stay in would be needed for her brother, who was getting out of prison.

“It just felt so abrupt.” Lauren said through the tears.

With no place to stay, she was forced to dip into her savings. She and the kids moved from hotel to hotel, with Lauren trying her best to put on a brave face. “It was a nightmare,” she shares. “I cried for so many days.” Then Lauren reached out to a family friend for help, and the friend invited Lauren and the kids to live with her.

In the meantime, Lauren learned about Metro from a friend from Church.

“They can help you is what my friend kept telling me.” Lauren made the journey to Metro to start the process for stable housing.

“The employee from Metro I was working with kept me encouraged. She told me not to give up and that they could help me.”

At first, things seemed fine. But by the second week, the friend was asking for money. Then she became upset over the electricity bill, which was higher with more people living in the house.

“She said we needed to cut our showers down to just five minutes,” Lauren recalls. “That wasn’t enough time for me to bathe and neither was it for my kids.”

Then things took a horrible turn.

One day, Lauren discovered her daughter crying in their room. After coaxing her to tell her what was wrong, she learned that the family friend had pulled her daughter out of the tub by the ponytail.

After finding her young daughter, draped in only a towel and in tears after being violated, she knew something had to change.

“That was the final straw for me,” Lauren says. “I told her we wouldn’t be staying somewhere my child was being mistreated. I have to protect them.”

The very next day, Lauren received the call from Metro while she was at work. The call came right on time. When they moved in, Lauren says, “We sat on the bed as a family and hugged, and jumped for joy!”

Today, Lauren and her kids are back on track.

“Metro was here in a time where it felt and seemed everything was closing in,” Lauren shares. “Metro was the blessing I needed to align everything I needed financially and mentally. I was able to get all my bills caught up and my credit re-established. I got help laying a path to getting back into school, got a better job, help for my kids and saving for and getting into our new home.

It’s complete relief and gratitude. They helped us so we can have a brighter future.”

Thanks to you, Lauren and her kids found safety, stability and new life at Metropolitan Ministries. Please help more families get the second chance they need to make a new start. Give generously today and your gift will DOUBLE!