One Family at a Time
"I’m hopeful now that everything's going to be okay."
Laquetta Miller popped up regularly from her seat during our conversation to be sure her active toddler was okay as she played nearby. The little one keeps her busy.
She’s also the reason Laquetta stepped across the threshold at Bell Family Shelter earlier this year, scared but determined. She sat on the bed with her baby that evening, she told me, questioning if she’d made the right decision.
Laquetta was used to living with a lot of people — she’d come from a two bedroom place she shared with nine immediate and extended family members. At 19, she had been trying to cover rent for herself and four of the other adults living there.
When utilities started getting cut off and the eviction notice came, Laquetta knew it was up to her to provide a strong example for her daughter and take steps to get her own place. Drifting in and out of friends’ apartments wasn’t going to cut it. That wasn’t the life she wanted for her child.
So here she was in an unfamiliar environment full of strangers. Would they steal what little she brought with her? Would she get along with the other people? Was there any way she could get her act together before she’d have to leave in 30 days?
To see her now, you wouldn’t know she’d felt so low. Confidence is evident in her face. She rallied her strength, attending mandatory meetings to discuss budgeting, and classes to learn healthy habits and parenting skills. She learned to cook and clean, and took advantage of time with caseworkers to get information to access and build a network of positive supports.
For her part, Laquetta brought a desire to move beyond despair to build a better life, as well as a willingness to take the necessary steps to get there. Still, she says she doesn’t like to think about where she’d be right now without the help of Bell Family Shelter.
Today she and her daughter are safe and sound in their very own apartment and she is counting her blessings. Her heart, she’s amazed to discover, is bursting with hope.
You can be part of the vital work of Bell Family Shelter, helping homeless families like Laquetta and her daugther.
