My Story, by Kendra

Telling your tough life story is never easy. No one wants the world to see them at their lowest. But once you have been inspired by someone else’s great story, you realize your story may help inspire others too.

At 42 years old, I was college-educated, employed at $22 per hour, and homeless. I would have never imagined that this would be my life. I paid my bills, I took good care of my children, I always gave to charity. I’m not on drugs, I don’t engage in criminal activity, so “how did I get here,” was my daily question. What did I do to end up living in an extended stay motel with my two children?

I wanted to blame my teenage son and all the trouble he had been causing. I wanted to blame my son’s father for never paying child support. I even wanted to blame my mother since she has been on drugs for over 40 years and didn’t give me a great start in life overall. I wanted to blame a lot of people and a lot of things, until I realized that it was the choices made by only myself that landed me where I was, and it was time to make better choice sand heal pieces of myself that caused me to lose focus on my goals.

Living in an extended stay motel was a huge challenge, but with the help of the SVdP Georgia Motel to Home (M2H) program, I was able to meet others whose stories inspired me to keep striving for the best life possible for myself and my children. The M2H program encouraged our family with prayer and hope as they assisted my family in some of our darkest days. They supplied food, school supplies, financial support, educational and community resources, and walked beside us every step of the way from homelessness to homeownership.

After two years and three months of living in an extended stay motel, I am more than proud to reveal that my family will be moving into a 3-bedroom house this month, just in time for the holiday! .

M2H has made this year one that we will never forget. They have offered to supply our family with much-needed household items and furniture to help us transition into our new home comfortably so that we can stay ahead of our finances.

To GOD is all the glory and may the mission of the M2H program thrive and survive for many more years to come. I honestly don’t know where we would be without the continued support from the M2H program and SVdP Georgia family, and gratitude will dwell in my heart forever.