Jessica's Story

Jessica came to Family Promise in January of 2019.

Before Family Promise, Jessica struggled to get on her feet. Jessica suffers from a plethora of severe physical ailments. With her many disabilities, Jessica struggled to live on her own while taking care of her special needs daughter, Aliyah. Unable to live on her own, Jessica was forced to move in with her mother, but unfortunately, her situation didn’t improve. The trailer Jessica and Aliyah moved into was dilapidated and in need of serious repairs. There was no heat, no hot water, a faulty roof, siding, etc. This was not a safe environment for her child, it was not a place they could stay long term. The worry and stress of having no safe place to raise her child was overwhelming. Recognizing this was no place to raise her child, Jessica sought help, and she found it in Family Promise.

While in our program, Jessica did everything right; she worked hard, got connected to community resources, and was always doing her best to secure housing for herself and Aliyah. Jessica’s hard work paid off, as she secured housing for herself and her daughter in just 26 days! Jessica has now, remained housed for an entire year!

Jessica says “I am forever grateful for all the love, support and encouragement I have received from Family Promise of New Castle County”.

Thanks to your support, together we have been able to make a difference for families like Jessica’s!

We donated a vehicle to Jessica earlier this year.

A Car Changes a Life

Within the past few weeks, a generous individual decided to donate their car to Family Promise NNCC. It was time to move on, and rather than selling or trading in her car, this individual believed her old vehicle could be put to good use. She believed it had the potential to drastically change the life of a family in need. Well, as it turns out, she was absolutely right! 

This past week, we transferred the donated vehicle to Jessica. This vehicle opens up all kinds of possibilities for Jessica, and to her the most important one being, the ability to pick her daughter up from school.

Stay tuned to hear more from Jessica about her story in the next month or so, but for now, I'll let the pictures below tell the rest of the story. 

Rhonda's Journey Home

Me and my children were living in a beautiful house given to me by my mother in law after she passed. Due to unexpected circumstances we unfortunately lost the home. Me and my children were completely devastated about this happening.

After losing our home, and nowhere to go, we ended going to a motel. I was paying for motel stays just so we could be able to sleep. What Family Promise did for me is they opened their doors. They treated me and my kids like one of their own. It was amazing how they gave us toiletries, beds, dishes and so much more. It was a life changing experience. My youngest daughter had kids to play with. My eldest daughter learned very valuable life lessons. The assistance that they gave was very valuable.

I learned a variety of essential soft skills such as, work ethic, how to pace myself, don’t, over work myself and stay calm. I also learned leadership skills and how to stand up on my own two feet. Thanks to Family Promise and hard work, we are happily housed at Riverview Place Apartments. The apartment is the perfect size for me & my family. I was looking at the place for a while and more than excited to move in and share the news with my kids. The apartment complex is so secure and safe, many friendly people, not noisy, and the kids love it. There's a park in the complex so the kids have somewhere to play.

My goals for moving forward are to reflect on the past so I can see what I did wrong and how to prevent something like this from happening again. I’m very happy my children are happy. And most important of all we are at peace and have somewhere to call home. Right now I work at Food lion on Philadelphia Pike and it’s a good paying job. My boss is very understanding so I can’t complain as it puts food on the table and I have happy kids and a great house to show for it. Miss Lori is amazing, she did everything to make sure I was going to be okay after I moved out. Family Promise changed my life and made me realize that I wasn't alone. We all fall on hard times, but you just have to stay strong and focused and always keep your Faith.