Our House e-newsletter Winter 2015 | Page 10

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.”