by Jessica Suitor, CAFSI Case Manager
When Adrianne began doing court-ordered community service
at Our House in the spring of 2014, she had no idea what
opportunities and services were available to her. She had a
long history of making bad decisions, getting mixed up with
the wrong crowd, and being in and out of jail. Adrianne knew
she needed to take control of her life. She started by working
toward completing many hours of community service at Our
House. The Community Service Coordinator recognized that
she was a dedicated hard worker. After coming to Our House
for community service, Adrianne found out that she could
attend GED preparation classes at the Learning Center after
she had finished completing her community service hours for
the day. After a few more visits with Adrianne in the classroom, the Learning Center Team referred her to the Re-Entry
Program to help her seek employment. After discovering that
Adrianne was a single mother of two and living with a family
member, she was connected with the homelessness prevention
program, CAFSI (Central Arkansas Family Stability Institute).
As a result, Adrianne was provided with a case manager to
work with her family over the course of the next year to
address the family’s complex needs as well as keep the family
from becoming homeless.
Today Adrianne has completed her community service hours
and is continuing the journey toward completing her GED.
Her youngest child, Christopher, is attending Little Learners
Child Development Center, which offers quality children’s
programming. Knowing that Christopher is in a structured
learning environment eliminates Adrianne’s child care concern
and helps her focus on accomplishing her goals to make a
better life for herself and her children. Adrianne states, “when
I first came here I was broken. Now I feel happy. I am motivated to do more things. I don’t feel depressed anymore.”