Client Stories

Melanie’s story reminds us that homelessness is no respecter of persons. Less than a year ago, Melanie, a single mother with a one year old child, was an accounts payable representative with a big corporation. Yes, she lived paycheck to paycheck, but she managed to provide for herself and her child. That is until an unexpected job loss caused her to lose her income and her home. Without a proper support system in place, she found herself homeless and stranded in Victorville with her young son. She heard about Inland Valley Hope Partners’ Our House Shelter and reached out for help to get her life back on track.

While in the shelter, Melanie was able to obtain employment with Volunteers of America, get a new apartment and even purchase a car. We are so proud of the work Melanie has done to rebuild her life. We wish you and your son the best!

Michelle & Alfred – Prior to finding Hope Partners’ Our House Shelter, Michelle and Alfred had suffered financial and physical setbacks that had forced them to split up their family just to keep a sufficient roof over their heads. Michelle had suffered a massive stroke and was dealing with complications from diabetes that had caused her to lose her job and eventually her home. She and her two minor children were staying with relatives while her husband stayed with relatives in another city trying his best to find employment. After five months living this way, Michelle’s family could no longer support her. Feeling exhausted and disheartened, Michelle reached out to Hope Partners in hope of finding a place for her and her family to heal physically, mentally and spiritually.

Michelle and the kids moved into the shelter first. She resumed her therapy and began to improve physically. In spite of everything, her children remained positive and were able to earn straight A’s at school. Alfred had felt like he had failed them all, but when he saw how well Michelle and the kids were doing, he made the decision to leave his relatives’ home and join his family at the shelter. Utilizing the direction and job readiness training provided to our shelter clients, Alfred was able to quickly land an excellent job with a company in San Dimas. Michelle also qualified for a disability supplement that, when combined with Alfred’s earnings, will allow the family to move into permanent housing. Currently Michelle and Alfred’s family is living in a transitional housing unit while they look for suitable permanent housing to fit their family of four.

WE ARE SO PROUD OF MICHELLE, ALFRED AND THEIR WONDERFUL STRAIGHT “A” KIDS! You are awesome, and we wish you the best.

Reginald & Felicienne – Things seemed pretty bleak for this couple when they arrived at Inland Valley Hope Partners. They had lost their employment, their car and their home when Reginald was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. For nearly a year, Reginald and Felicienne struggled just to pull together enough money to stay in motels and get Reginald to his regular chemo therapy and radiation treatments. In the midst of their turmoil, they were further burdened with caring for their 2 year old granddaughter unexpectedly. Although Reginald and Felicienne had lost nearly everything, the one thing they never lost was hope.

Reginald and Felicienne were determined to bring solutions to their circumstances and became the perfect candidates to follow the suggestions and referrals given to them. In less than 2 months, the couple has accomplished what once seemed impossible. They attained income when Reginald was approved for SSI and Felicienne, a licensed correctional drug and alcohol counselor, was given a provision allowing her to be his Home Health Care Provider. They now have a car and were able to obtain affordable housing through a voucher with one of our partner agencies. With the blessing of Bridges to Home, the couple was given all the necessary furnishings to move in to their apartment in late January. Although they are still walking through Reginald’s health crisis, they have the stability in their living and financial situations to enable them to focus their energies on getting him well. WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU REGINALD AND FELICIENNE, and we wish you the best.

Andrea—A single woman restoring her life from substance abuse, Andrea came to the Our House shelter after living in a sober living environment. She has had a great impact on our shelter as Resident Assistant, a role that requires her to assist staff with monitoring the shelter when the housing office is closed. While at the shelter, she obtained a full-time job and is now looking forward to the rest of her life, feeling new and restored.
Andrea demonstrates that, with willingness, hard work and the knowledge of your self-worth, it is possible to hit the re-start button on life. She will be pursuing an education to become a substance abuse counselor beginning in November and is eager to start a new career in that field.
GREAT JOB Andrea!