Veteran gets a second chance with his family

It started after a storm that caused raging flooding in his home town of Baton Rouge, La. With floodwater waist-deep, three small children, and a backpack of their belongings in tote, Ryan and his fiancé Kristi were recused by airboat and taken to a shelter.

This natural disaster stripped Ryan and his family of everything they owned. Ryan’s story is one that Metropolitan Ministries hears often. Families left homeless and struggling after devastating hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods.

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The U.S. Army vet, who served in Afghanistan, was familiar with braving unfamiliar territories, but the aftermath of the flood would prove to be very difficult. “After the water died down, we started to rebuild,” said Ryan “We moved into an expensive apartment that did not flood. It was hard because there were not many places to choose from.”

Ryan discovered that apartment rents were rising fast as Baton Rouge families clamored for safety.

Six months later, Ryan was laid off from his job and they were evicted. With his fiancé Kristi and four small children to care for, Ryan felt the stress of life coming down hard. Shortly after another blow was dealt – Kristi would suffer a medical emergency that required Ryan to take an extended leave from his new job.

“She complained of not being able to see. She was blind for three days until we learned that she had increased spinal fluid pressing on nerves in her brain.”

Wrapped up in caring for Kristi and their children, Ryan recalls his new job treated him. “I would message my supervisor directly, but since I never contacted the human resources department, they considered my absence as job abandonment.”

With the stress of losing another job, coupled with piling medical bills and having to care for his fiancé and children, Ryan reached a hard decision.

“We decided to leave for Florida to stay with my mom until we could figure it out,” said Ryan. They would make the hard decision to leave the other children behind with family so they could work on getting back on their feet.

Ryan’s mom, who lived in Pasco County, opened her one-bedroom apartment to her son. Beyond the cramped arrangement, Ryan’s mother was at risk of becoming evicted herself due to restrictions on here lease. When options seemed few and far in-between, Ryan would hear about Metropolitan Ministries – right when he needed it the most.

Your support of our mission means we can fill in the gap and provide Hope to families like Ryan’s.

Upon arriving at Metro, Ryan and his family were able to build their lives back up. They no longer had to worry about a safe place to live or how they would be able to save money to reunite their family. Because of your support, Ryan was able to concentrate on all the things to give him a brighter future.

“I was able to focus on school and graduate and leave with job-related skills.” said Ryan. He graduated from Amskills, and that led him to his new career at Pall Aerospace. While he was in school, Metro helped to give his family help with daycare cost, college tuition for Kristi, and assistance for stable housing.

With an optimistic outlook, Ryan expressed how the support he’s received is helping him to reach his greatest goal. “With the help of Metro, we will be able to reunite our family again with a stable career and home.”

No matter how a family winds up at Metropolitan, whether it’s escaping a toxic environment, or rebuilding from a natural disaster, your generous donation to our ministry helps us to meet those in need and provide Hope.