First married at age 17 and in a string of unstable and abusive relationships for more than 20 years, in 2025 Mandy McPherson decided that she was going to, in her words, “Stop looking for Mr. Right, and start being Ms. Right.” But her life as a single mother in Hot Springs, Arkansas, was difficult from the start, and after a few months she got behind on her rent and received an eviction notice from her landlord. She reached out to the local DHS office for help, and they suggested she try Our House in Little Rock. “So I packed my car and, with a quarter tank of gas, I made my way to Little Rock.”
They had to spend one night in a hotel, but the next day a room at Our House opened up, and Mandy and her two boys, Isaac and Daniel, ages 12 and 11, were able to move into our Family Housing program. “My first priority was to get the children in school, and get their medical care caught up,” Mandy recalls, and with help from her case manager, Kate, and from our on-site Arkansas Children’s Hospital clinic, she was able to do just that. She also addressed her own health care needs, visiting our on-site ARcare clinic for adults. And she and both of her children began seeing our mental health team, to help them process their difficult experiences over the past several years.
With an uneven job history and with a physical disability that limits the roles she can perform, Mandy was a good fit for our job training program, where she works as a gatekeeper to build job history and give her time to find the right job for her. It also gives her a chance to do meaningful work on our campus every day. “I take pride in working at the guard shack. I know how it feels to be on the other side of that fence. I know how it feels to be in need, and lost, and just want somebody to help you. And so I want to be the smiling face that they see when they come. I want them to feel the way I felt when I had people care for me.”
The whole family is thriving in the structure of our program. “I have had a very chaotic life, so structure and stability are something I crave. It is wonderful being able to have my own safe space, where I’m not afraid of where I’m going to live, and where I have the opportunity to make changes in my life.” Isaac and Daniel are doing well in school, and Isaac plays on his middle school’s football team. Both actively participate in our out-of-school-time program, Our Club, after school and on school-out days. And Mandy is working on finding the right permanent job for her, while also setting her sights on a bright future, looking forward to supporting her sons to graduate from high school, while also taking courses to complete her own high school diploma.
