COVID-19 had taken its toll on her family. Her in-laws grew tired of having the children underfoot all day and soon the pressure of living together proved too much for them. They were asked to leave.
It was a terrifying time for Lindsey and her family. Her 8-year-old was scheduled for surgery for his spina bifida and needed a stable place to recover. Her 2-year-old needed a safe environment to simply be a 2-year-old. Fears of Child Protective Services taking both children loomed in the back of her mind 24/7. She kept her situation a secret from the kids’ school to protect them from being removed from her custody. She was desperate with nowhere to turn.
Then she found Elk Grove HART, and her fears were diminished. It was a perfect match. She and her family moved into the Meadow House, into 2 bedrooms and a Jack and Jill bathroom. She and her husband in one room and the boys in the other. The walk-in shower was handicap accessible which allowed them to bathe their son after his surgery. He made a beautiful recovery and is back to walking.
Lindsey found employment and worked from the house during the day while her husband worked at night. This allowed them to both work and care for the children while they saved money. They have stabilized and done a great job of saving. This month they will be moving into their very own apartment!
Starting fresh is an exciting prospect for them. Lindsey says she has learned so much from the HART program. She was never taught to work hard or to save her money. She feels the life skills she has acquired during her stay at the Meadow House will help her live a lifestyle she can afford.
We are so proud of the hard work Lindsey and her husband have put into being successful. Life lessons, not only for them, but for her children too, who are always watching. Her goal is to break the chain of generational poverty that has plagued her family. She is well on her way to doing just that.
Elk Grove HART isn’t just about housing people, it’s about changing the trajectory of their lives. Please consider being part of the solution and donate generously on the Big Day of Giving. The donation link is open now at https://bigdayofgiving.org/elkgrovehart.
I couldn’t help but express my admiration for her, she had held it together for so long. Legally blind due to her Type 1 diabetes, she continued to work full-time and care for her 6th grader who was thriving. For 9 years she had paid rent on time and drove to Fairfield every day for work. Life was hectic, but good and stable.
In the blink of an eye, last July, her world caved in. Her landlord wanted $2,600 for the 3-bedroom condo she had been renting for $1,250. To avoid eviction, she and her daughter had no choice but to live in their car. She searched for an apartment, but finding one proved to be impossible. They required her income to be 3 ½ times the rent and great credit. She had neither.
Her health started to spiral as her stress level caused her to lose sleep, yet she continued to work. She knew she needed her income if there was any hope for their survival.
On September 10th she found her safety net and moved into one of our transitional family homes. She was finally able to breathe. Living in a house with 3 other families wasn’t easy. She had lived independently since she was 18. She and her daughter lived in a 10 X 10 room. However, she chose to be grateful and to do everything in her power to move up and out.
To that end, she quit her job in Fairfield and is now working from the office in the transitional house. Her endurance, strength and courage has paid off. She and her daughter will soon be moving into the Bow Street Apartments that are subsidized by the City, through developer fees. They are thrilled to soon be in their own place again. To aide them, one of our dedicated Elk Grove churches will be helping them to furnish their new place.
HART believes in working with our community to help care for those who are struggling. Would you consider being part of the solution? Please give generously to Elk Grove HART on the Big Day of Giving.
Standing on the edge of a cliff can be terrifying, especially when your children are standing on the edge with you. Sadly, many families in Elk Grove are facing this situation. In the poverty world, the Cliff Effect is a term used for families that are working, healthy and their kids are thriving, yet they are one terrifying step away from a disaster. The loss of a job, housing, their health, divorce, or some similar life event, can push them off that edge. We are facing a new Cliff Effect in Elk Grove and throughout the region, a lack of housing.
The Situation
We currently have 6 families in our transitional houses that are doing all the right things, - working, saving money and have decent rental histories. Yet, the competitiveness of the rental market has left them floundering. Several are running out of time at our transitional houses with nowhere to go. They are hovering on the edge.
The Solution: Your help!
The City of Elk Grove has come up with a generous, innovative landlord incentive program to help our clients., yet they continue to be upstaged by more qualified applicants. We are facing a new unhoused population of families in our city and we need your help. If you know anyone who has a rental available, please contact us. And, please continue to support EG HART so we can come to the aid of these families. An amazing 98% of your financial donation goes directly to our unhoused services. Please give generously to our Big Day of Giving!
Find more information regarding the Landlord Incentive Program here: https://www.elkgrovecity.org/city_hall/departments_divisions/housing_loans/affordable_housing/landlord_incentive_program
“Big Day of Giving is coming soon! We are pleased to share that we are once again offering incentives for donors! If you donate $50 or more, you will be entered into a drawing for a two-night stay (Sunday and Monday, May 29 and 30) in a two-bedroom,
three-bath (1150 square feet) luxury residence at the Marriott Grand Residence Club, South Lake Tahoe. This is a $1500 value! Each $50 in your donation will earn a chance in the
drawing - for example, if you donate $100 you will earn two chances!
Please visit Elk Grove HART | GivingEdge (bigdayofgiving.org) to donate.
My heart broke as they loaded Thomas yet one more time into the ambulance. One of the young fire fighters complained to me, “Can’t you do something about him?” But the reminder to just keep loving him rang through my head.
For years we had tried to help Thomas. He had stayed in our transitional house, the Grace House, but after a couple of months lapsed back into drinking. A few years later he stayed in a SSHH house for a couple of months but was so inebriated every day that he was finally asked to leave. Sadly, there was no other option than to live outside.
But his life style was hard on his body. Several times he landed in the hospital for a few weeks with broken bones from falling which was then followed by months in a rehab center learning to walk again. His most recent hospital stay was different though. In June he broke his femur and his kidneys were shutting down. He said he was tired of living on the streets. After a lengthy stay in the hospital with a couple of operations and then again in a rehab, we decided to give Thomas yet another chance at the Grace House.
We are thrilled to report that his transformation has amazed us all. He is making these beautiful crosses for all of those that helped him while he lived on the streets. It is our hope that Thomas will soon be moving into the Shasta Hotel program in Sacramento where he can live out the rest of his life.
It has taken our HART team and our police and fire departments to help give him a new start in life. Trying to fix him wasn’t the answer, but caring for him was. That is what makes the HART organizations different from government programs. There is personal care paid to our unhoused neighbors. We all need a friend that we can lean on.
HART’s Big Day of Giving is on May 5th. Please consider giving generously to help us end homelessness one person at a time.
Big Day of Giving is March 5th. More details coming soon!
Have you heard the news? Elk Grove HART has been selected as the beneficiary of the Give Back Bag Program! Each time the $2.49 reusable Give Back Bag is purchased at the Save Mart at 9160 Elk Grove Florin Road in Elk Grove from February 15 to March 31, we will receive a $1 donation.
The Elk Grove Overnight Warming Location (OWL) Cooperative is a network of city, service, and faith-based organizations operating overnight warming centers for those who need it.
December 1, 2021 - April 30, 2022*
* Operating dates are dependent on weather conditions. See website for details.
Learn more and sign up for notifications at:
elkgrovecity.org/owl
We are a 501c(3) non-profit organization;
100% of donations go directly toward providing services.
Tax ID# 46-4162394