June Virtual Graduation Celebration

On Friday, June 25th we celebrated four graduating moms via Zoom. In spite of tuning in from our home computers, there was an incredible sense of joy and togetherness transcending the separation of our screens as *Amber, Mary, Valerie and Rita shared their stories. Before hopping on our Zoom call, moms were invited to receive event packages via curbside pick-up at the Fellowship Housing offices. Meals were lovingly provided by Food for Friends and flowers, games for the kids and drinks by A&A Paving.

In her speech, Valerie recalled the day that she was overwhelmed and 'just couldn't do this any more' on her own. She pulled her car over, put her head on the steering wheel and prayed, "God, I can't do this. You have to help me." That was when she heard an ad for Fellowship Housing on K-Love radio. She was encouraged to call and found hope again.

Amber shared that she was married at a young age, had a baby and a home and a husband with a stable job. She was incredibly happy. But suddenly her husband lost his job. Then she found out their home was in foreclosure, which he had been hiding from her. Shortly after that, father fell ill and then passed and then Amber found out she had breast cancer. The day she was to start radiation treatments, her husband left her and their son. She was on her own and found herself alone and in a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving wondering, "How did I get here?"

Overcoming obstacles like breast cancer, escaping verbal and physical abuse from a spouse and arriving from another country with no support system... These women are the definition of resilience and it has been our joy and honor to come along side them with your support during their time of crisis.

At Fellowship Housing they each said they found community, support, stability, accountability, financial training, opportunities and space to build into their children which they never had before. One mom even said she found God because of the love she received through you over these last two years.

These tenacious and hark-working women were able to reach incredible goals on average in spite of the pandemic challenges they faced and saved more than we have ever seen before. On average they each raised their credit score by 91 points, paid $17,000 in debt and saved $36,000.

Graduation celebrations continue to be a source of inspiration for all of our moms who are in the middle of or just beginning their journey to build a new legacy for their families. We are hopeful that our next celebration will be in person so we can once again hug and applaud loudly all of the hard work and accomplishments of these amazing women. Thank you for making all of this possible through your generous support!

*names changed to protect privacy