“I WANTED TO GIVE MY KIDS A BETTER LIFE”

Gineé grew up coming to the Mission for help. But she never imagined she’d return like this . . .

“I never had stability as a child,” says Gineé. No consistent place to call home. No strong father figure to cheer her on in life. No mother to walk with her through teenhood.

“I was removed from my mom’s care when I was 12 and put into foster care,” says Gineé. When she turned 18, Gineé became homeless and got mixed up in an abusive relationship. She never wanted to follow in her mom’s footsteps.

But Gineé found herself a mother of three, fighting drug addiction and trying to survive the streets. “The hardest part about homelessness was seeing my kids’ faces. They felt helpless,” says Gineé. She would look at them and think, I’m your mom. And I can’t even take care of y’all. It was a fight just to put food in their stomachs and clothes on their backs. “And all the while, I was trying to keep them in school. I wanted to give my kids a better life,” says Gineé.

“But breaking the cycle is hard without support.” Gineé was living in hotel rooms, using drugs to numb her pain and trying to raise her children alone. When her middle son was removed from her care, Gineé had had enough. She didn’t want this for herself or for her precious little ones. Gineé’s desire for her children to live a life different from her own childhood was enough to take the taste of drugs away.

“I remembered coming to the Mission as a child with my mom and getting help,” she says. “I had always clung to how they don’t just help you—they show you love. So I started coming on my own.”

BECOMING THE MOTHER SHE WAS MADE TO BE

Because you give, Gineé is breaking the cycle of homelessness and addiction for herself and her three children.
This single mother found everything she needed to rebuild—help securing an apartment, continued education resources, groceries, spiritual growth and more. “Before I became homeless, I went to school for medical assistance and phlebotomy,” says Gineé. “I’m currently taking online classes to become a registered nurse.”

Most rewarding of all, Gineé received help reuniting with her 15-year-old son. She’s becoming the mother she was always made to be. “The parenting classes here helped me recognize that parents make mistakes and helped me to bring my son back into my life,” says Gineé. “I’m learning patience. It’s helped my kids and I heal and form a bond of trust. I’m becoming a better mother.”

Because of you, Gineé—and so many others—are breaking cycles that keep them trapped in homelessness. Thank you!