When Ronald exited prison, he only had a bag of clothes to his name, no transportation, nowhere to stay, and enough money to purchase a few items at Goodwill. Ronald stayed with a friend, and checked in to our Shelter as soon as a bed became available. He quickly set out looking for work and settled in a job training position doing maintenance on Our House’s campus. Ronald completed the full 9 months of the program and moved up our housing ladder by transitioning to the Family House where he shares a private room with a roommate. The skillset Ronald developed in his job training position set him up to be employed full-time doing maintenance with a partner organization (with a raise on the horizon)! With the help of the Career Center, Ronald opened a bank account and has been focusing on paying off his court and parole fees. By prioritizing his money management, Ronald saved up enough to purchase a new vehicle, invest in a complete set of tools for his job, and he has been diligently budgeting to purchase everything he will need for his own apartment. Ronald plans to stay at Our House for the maximum two years in order to save up as much money as possible, and he has already prepared by putting himself on the waitlist for a chem-free apartment. Ronald is looking forward to having a place of his own where his daughter can come to visit him. “When I first came to Our House, I had nothing,” Ronald says. “I was digging myself out of a hole, but now I’m at the top and I can see my future in front of me.”
