Facing homelessness again

During Christmas 2020, Navy veteran Kathryn found herself facing homelessness.

She had lost her job due to COVID-19, and she and her daughters relied on her mother’s social security. But her mom passed away, and she didn’t know what they were going to do. With one of her daughters having ADHD and her other daughter on the autism spectrum, and now both grieving their grandmother’s death, they had enough on their plates. Kathryn knew homelessness would be the breaking point.

After some prayer and talking with her sister, she encouraged Kathryn to reach out to HVAF. Kathryn felt doubtful, as she had already used their resources and thought there wouldn’t be anything else they could do. She decided to go ahead and see, and to her surprise, HVAF could help!

HVAF’s help over the years

Kathryn first came to HVAF in 2015, when she almost lost her apartment. She met a HVAF employee at a resource fair and asked them if there were any shelters. The employee let her know she didn’t need to worry about a shelter, as they could provide rental assistance.

About one year later, Kathryn reached out to HVAF again for help when she lost her apartment due to bed bugs. HVAF helped her find a new apartment, and even provided brand new beds and bedding!

Kathryn’s Case Manager, Erin, successfully helped Kathryn work towards being financially stable on her own.

“Prior to knowing you guys, I can’t even tell you how stressed out I was,” Kathryn said. “Having that extra team of people makes me have peace of mind.”

Today, Kathryn works as an Intake Coordinator at a neurology center and is now able to pay for rent and bills on her own. She said she is thankful her case manager, Erin, helped her with the transition from receiving assistance to becoming financially stable on her own.

“Kathryn is great at communicating,” Erin said. “There were a few situations that were unforeseen, but Kathy bounced back and stayed true to plan to be successful.”

Telling others about HVAF

Now if Kathryn ever meets a fellow veteran in need, she doesn’t hesitate to tell them to call HVAF!

“I tell them you guys aren’t judgmental. And I think that’s a big reason why a lot of people don’t want to ask for help, because I felt nervous at first. I thought, ‘They are going to judge me and they are going to look down on me because I’m a single parent,’” Kathryn said. “I have never felt you guys have looked down on me or question me. You don’t look at me like I’m just a number.”

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