When she woke up on the filthy, cold floor of a dilapidated crackhouse, her body gripped in a pain that doubled her over, Mandy knew she would not survive another day if she didn’t stop her drug use. Even then, however, her addiction overruled her better judgment. Four of her six children had long been taken away from her, and were being raised in foster homes. They’d all be better off without her anyway, she thought, so the prospect of dying seemed the best option for everyone.

​But something quite unexpected happened instead, a last-ditch intervention by her nephew lead her one step at a time down an unfamiliar path where she started to find some answers and a place that could help her put the pieces of her life back together again. She conquered her addictions, became reunited with her children once more, and landed a job (now more than four years ago) that quickly opened the door to a new life standing firmly on her own two feet including the ability to afford her family’s housing.