Family Housing

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Tim | Anthony  |   Hope  |  Helen  |  Liz  |  ESAs Jean and Rachel  |  Nicole  |  Kim and Justin  |  LaTonya

 

Tim and his son find Home at Simpson

When Tim first called Simpson Housing Services’ family housing lottery, he did so with a groan. “I thought, ‘I don’t know why I’m calling Simpson, they’re never going to call me back.’”  But his friends, who were staying with him in shelter at the Drake Hotel, convinced him to keep trying. “One day, the phone rang and this beautiful voice said ‘Hi, I’m calling from Simpson.’ After she said ‘Simpson,’ my mind was blown, I was stunned. I went numb at that point. I’m like, ‘Simpson? No, not me. No.’ After all I’d been through, I thought, ‘Lord, what is this?’ But it became my new home.”

 

Before coming to Simpson, Tim had struggled with homelessness for five years. After divorcing his wife and being forced to sell his home in Chicago, he was awarded full custody of his son. The two of them bounced from place to place, staying with family, in various apartments, in shelters, and in their car. On a friend’s recommendation, they moved to Minnesota in hopes of finding work and other resources. But again, he and his son were directed to shelters. “I sat in the shelter awake at night, staring up at the ceiling, thinking ‘I don’t know this place, Lord, this isn’t my home.’”

 

Trying to protect his son from the situation was especially painful. “I was trying to keep my adversity from him, but right as we moved here, it began to affect him, especially moving out of our last apartment. When I took the couches and stuff out, he began to yell ‘No! No!’ and began to realize that we were going away from home. It was easy to hide it when he was six months, a year, but now he’s beginning to pick up on everything.”

These struggles inspired Tim to write a poem entitled Where is Home, in which he chronicles the feelings of helplessness and the spiritual longing that came with homelessness. “Is there one place, Oh Lord, that my son and I can call home?” he writes.

 

His stay at ZOOM house, it seems, was the answer to that question. “The one thing that makes [my apartment at ZOOM] feel like home is the unconditional love from Simpson. Never have I seen an agency like that […] Real people to talk to, who do not have a bias, who do not judge you, and support you wholeheartedly. The sincerity makes it feel like home.” Tim is now working towards financial stability and finding a permanent home for his family.

 

 “Sometimes I find myself asking if I’m worthy of these kinds of blessings, because there are so many families who need help. I want to be self reliant and stand up on my own two feet.” He added, “It’s definitely motivation and inspiration to continue to strive to do your best no matter what is going on.”

 

 

Family Housing program participant Anthony is a rising star

The recipient of the 2008 Simpson Housing You Are Remarkable Award was a 6th grader at Nellie Stone Johnson Community School in north Minneapolis when he received his award. Anthony and his family entered the Simpson Transitional Housing Program in May of 2007. He is the oldest of five children and is the big brother that all of his siblings look up to.

 

Education Support Advocate Rachel Kuehl says of this award recipient: “I have worked with this young man for the past year and in that time I have witnessed a rising star. The 2007-2008 school year was a huge success for him. He finished the school year with 100% attendance, never missing a day. He attended both Simpson Attendance Reward Trips and his goal is to do the same for the upcoming year.”

 

While maintaining his perfect attendance, he quickly began to excel in school. During the 2007-2008 school year he participated in the Simpson Tutoring Program, working one-on-one with a tutor to improve his reading and math skills. In December 2007 he was tested for the Gifted and Talented Program at his school and passed with flying colors. Through this program, he takes classes in advanced reading and literacy experiences, plus science enhancement via a Young Inventor’s Fair. He is also quite an actor. His school theatre instructor and directors says: “I am a huge fan. He is one of the most talented actors of his age that I have ever worked with. He has a great gift for comedy and characterization and totally immerses himself in the characters he plays.”

 

Through the mentoring program Bolder Options, he meets weekly with a mentor, exploring new interests, doing homework, setting goals for the future and training together to run three community marathons. A strong bond has been formed and this recipient is continuously sharing stories of what he has accomplished through this program and with his mentor.

 

He has already begun talking about his plans to attend the University of Minnesota when he graduates high school.  His mother recently participated in a pilot parenting course through the Minneapolis Public Schools which allows her children to attend the U of M tuition-free. The entire family enjoys talking about their plans and goals for the future. Simpson Family Advocate Tom Balsley, adds: “This young man is a part of a hard-working, determined, and caring family. I have seen the way his parents’ faces shine with pride when they discuss his accomplishments.”

 

This award recipient is a child with endless potential. His determination and drive is limitless. Regardless of the situation, he always keeps a positive attitude and has a gift of bringing joy to others around him. Rachel, his Education Support Advocate says: “I look at this child and I see our future…and it is in great hands. He makes me think of the quote from Fern Narod: ‘Children should be seen and heard and believed.’"

 

Photo: Tom Balsley, Simpson Family Advocate; Anthony; Rachel Kuehl, Education Support Advocate.

 

 

Hope is balancing school, work and family life with a positive attitude and plans for the future.

A year ago Hope and her two children were homeless and had been for several years. Couch-hopping, sleeping in parks and in company vehicles where she worked was how the family got through the nights in Minneapolis.

 

They had found their way to a local family shelter when a case-worker told them about the Simpson Family Housing lottery. As luck would have it, their name was chosen in the weekly lottery (an average of 70 families call every week) and they were soon in an apartment.

 

“I feel so blessed for the opportunity of a new start. We have not been stable for years. It’s good to know where you’re going.” Shortly after entering the Simpson Family Housing program, with the help of her Simpson family advocate, Hope earned her G.E.D. Hope’s children are focusing on being kids. Her six-year old son is in first grade and is an active, spirited boy who loves sports. His family advocate helps him to do his best in school. Hope's four-year old daughter is independent, quiet and loves to create art.

 

A few weeks ago, Hope started classes at a local college in pursuit of her Medical Office Assistant degree. Balancing three college courses with her job at the Mall of America while taking care of her two children can prove challenging, but she knows the efforts will be well worth it. “I eventually want to go on to school to be a nurse. I love being around people and being there to help people.”

 

Simpson Housing is focusing on helping families work towards financial stability. In 2008, 67% of the transitional housing graduates showed increased income. At program entrance, the average monthly income of families was $619 and at exit, it was $885. Also in 2008, 55% of the non-disabled transitional housing families were working or in school upon program exit; at entrance only 13% had been working or in school.

 

 

Helen Finds Home: Family Housing graduates settle into their new house in a friendly neighborhood

Helen and her five children were staying at Mary Jo’s place, a shelter near downtown Minneapolis, when an advocate referred them to Simpson Housing Services’ Family Housing program. The Simpson program, which serves up to 40 families at a time, holds a weekly lottery for openings. During most weeks, due to capacity constraints, Simpson turns away over 30 families seeking housing.

 

For many weeks Helen called on Tuesday afternoon. “One week I got down on my knees with the phone in my hand and prayed. It was November and I didn’t want to be in the shelter for Christmas.” That week there happened to be openings in the program and Helen entered the lottery with the hope of being selected. Her name was drawn that Tuesday.

 

Families entering the Family Housing program receive assistance finding an affordable home and money to help make the rent. Each family is assigned an advocate to help develop skills needed to maintain stability (families stay in the program for up to two years). Simpson pointed Helen towards a lovely home in the uptown area of south Minneapolis and she and her family were settled in time for Christmas.

 

The five kids were blossoming. Helen was a stickler for school attendance. “My kids go to school and that’s that.” Helen, on the other hand, was having trouble finding work. Although she now has a steady job that she loves at Target there was a lot of rejection along the way, and a lot of tears born of frustration. “One thing about Helen is that even through the tough times she had faith and surrounded herself with positive people. This has served her well along the way,” reports Janelle Leppa, Simpson Transitional Housing Manager.

 

Families in the program work with a Simpson advocate to create five short-term goals. “Setting the goals got me motivated and focused my mind on doing all the things that I needed to do,” says Helen.

Helen and her family achieved all of their goals in their two years in the program and it was time to graduate. They applied for every public housing and Section 8 program (a federally funded initiative that provides rental assistance to lower income households) there was to be found, but were not accepted anywhere. Regardless, they forged ahead and found a home in northeast Minneapolis. They moved in and two weeks later Helen got word that she and her family had been accepted into public housing in a Minneapolis suburb.

 

Nearly nine months after leaving the Simpson Transitional Housing Program, they are doing better than ever. As much as Helen is in love with her house, she is even more in love with her new neighbors and neighborhood. “My neighbors are like my family.”

 

Helen credits much of her family’s success to taking full advantage of the Family Housing program. They attended workshops, outings, and worked closely with their advocate. “Hard times strengthen you,” she tells us. “It’s hard to think where we would be without the Family Housing program.”

 

 

Liz and her family are looking forward

The apartment belonging to Liz and her twin daughters Nataly and Liz is full of everything that makes a house a home. On a late Friday afternoon, dinner is cooking on the stove, filling the apartment with yummy smells, fun music is playing, and the girls are working on their homework (so that they can enjoy the weekend).

 

The family entered the Simpson Transitional Housing program three years ago. They received help finding an affordable place to live, help paying the rent, and Liz and her Simpson advocate Cincere worked together to make sure Liz honed the skills to maintain their housing. “Liz was extremely determined and persistent. She always had great follow through, which really helped the family get to where they are today,” says Cincere. A year ago the family graduated to the Simpson Rental Assistance Program (RAP). The RAP program is for families who have settled into housing and need a little more time to make sure they achieve all their program goals.

 

“Anytime I had any problems, Simpson provided me with the necessary resources to solve the issues,” says Liz. “During the Christmas season, Simpson volunteers provided gifts for my girls that put smiles on both of their faces. Without Simpson giving us a hand in our lives, we would not be where we are today.”

 

 

Profile: Advocating for a child’s education and future

Simpson education support advocates work with families to help break the cycle of homelessness

 

Every school-aged child in the Simpson Transitional Housing program is matched with an Education Support Advocate to help them succeed in school. How does success happen? The ESAs, as they are called, tutor, work with teachers, and make sure the kids get to school. But there is much more to it and many ways to define success.

 

Jean Loyd, Simpson ESA, says, “Our primary goal is to build relationships, to show the kids that no matter what, we will be there for them.” ESA Rachel Kuehl adds: “What a lot of our kids don’t have is a sense of consistency. We can be another positive adult in their lives, encouraging them and holding them accountable.” According to the ESAs, the fun part of the job is the one-on-one time spent with the kids, doing homework or talking about how their day went.

 

Other parts of the job are a bit more challenging. “A large part of our work is to be a bridge between the parents and the school. At least fifty percent of our time is spent with the parents,” Jean says. Frustrations rise in the parents and the school when a child isn’t doing well or is absent a lot. The ESAs help to establish a solid ground for communication. “Some parents need you to be their voice. What I strive for is to help the parents learn to communicate with the schools on their own; to stop and plan what they want to say and how to say it and that advocating for their kids isn’t scary,” adds Jean.

 

On a typical day, Jean and Rachel could do any or all of the following: bring a kindergartener to school who missed his or her bus; meet with a teacher to discuss reading-level progress; help find a school uniform; eat lunch with a fifth-grader in the school cafeteria; sit-in on a meeting between a principal and a parent; pick-up a child who was suspended; help a third-grader learn their times tables; coordinate the weekly tutoring program; plan the monthly parenting workshop; spend an hour hanging out and chatting with a teen in the program.

 

Children in the transitional housing program are provided certain rights under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act. According to the act, school-aged children experiencing homelessness have the right to continue in the school they were attending when they became homeless. “Almost always, if things are going well at a school, we are for keeping the kids in it,” says Rachel.

 

School-aged children in families who are experiencing homelessness sometimes report a stigma of being homeless; of being a shelter kid. Jean and Rachel do not see a lot of this in the families in the Family Housing program. “I see parents protecting their children from knowing that they are homeless,” says Jean. “Sometimes a child won’t want me to see them at school, but that is usually not the case. I remember one little girl proudly saying out loud ‘This is my advocate!’” Rachel says.

Photo1. Simpson ESA Jean leads a game of hopscotch at the annual Family Housing Summer Camping Trip. The trip is an opportunity for all the families to get out of the city for a weekend in the country.

Photo 2.: Simpson ESA Rachel congratulates a child with outstanding school attendance at a program held every year at the Family Housing Program Summer Barbeque.

 

 

Nicole has her feet planted firmly on the ground and is looking forward to what is next

Simpson Family Housing participant Nicole and her six-month-old son Kaden were having lunch at a Potbelly’s sandwich shop when a butterfly landed on his head. She threw up her arms in joy and proclaimed “Butterflies are good luck!” Nicole has always loved butterflies. She says that in her next life, she hopes to come back as one of the lucky little creatures.

 

Lately Nicole has been doing her own part to get luck on her side. She moved into her bright one-bedroom apartment across the street from a park and a flower garden a few months ago. She is getting the wheels in motion to get her G.E.D. and she is facing some issues from her past head-on with the help of a counselor.Life in the sunny apartment in southeast Minneapolis is looking pretty good.

 

Last December Nicole was referred to Simpson by her social worker and soon entered the Simpson Housing First program geared towards families who have experienced long-term homelessness. For Nicole, it had been over ten years.

 

At age 11, abuse drove her onto the streets. A bout of numbing the pain with drugs followed. “I have had issues with anger because growing up I never was able to express my emotions. You don’t change these things overnight, it takes baby steps. I want to make sure that I will be the best parent that I can be.”
Judging from happy six-month-old Kaden, things are going pretty well.

 

Nicole has big goals for her life. With the help of her Simpson advocate Nikki, she is working on plans to make them happen. When she has completed her G.E.D. she would like to go to school to become a massage therapist, eventually owning her own small-business. And in five years, she would like to be in her own house. “Somewhere near a lake would be great, where we can boat, fish and have a flower garden.”
And she would love a chance to travel, most particularly to Italy. Nicole is one half Italian. “I would love to learn about my heritage,” she says.

 

“You have to remember that things do get better,” she says. “Life is what you make of it. And you are the only one who can make it better.” Nicole is doing just that.

 

 

Kim and Justin Are Having a Great Summer

Kim and her son Justin live in a cozy apartment in a tidy building on a quiet, tree-lined street in Minneapolis. Their building is well-maintained and has a beautiful, lush lawn surrounding it. Their apartment is a mix of antiques, comfortable furniture and kid’s toys. Peanut the guinea pig is at home in a cage in the living room.

 

Just a couple of years ago such a home seemed like a distant dream to Kim and Justin. Bouts of un-diagnosed depression and severe anxiety sent Kim into a crisis situation. She lost her job and she and Justin soon found themselves homeless. Kim’s oldest daughter went to live with Kim’s parents and her 16 year-old daughter, who is legally blind and has cerebral palsy, went to be cared for in a group-home. After a year of living at Mary’s Place at Sharing and Caring Hands in Minneapolis, a caseworker at Project Connect of Hennepin County put Kim and Justin in touch with Simpson Housing Services Family Housing Program.

 

Two years ago Kim reports she felt “down and out and I didn’t feel like I was such a great parent. But now I feel like all the pieces are in place.” With the help of the Transitional Housing program and her Simpson advocate, Kim is being treated for her depression and anxiety. Kim and Justin’s apartment is cozy and neat and has the comfortable feel that they have lived there forever. A couple of weeks ago, Kim attended the high-school graduation of her oldest daughter

 

“Simpson has helped us so much. Everything is going just great.” Justin has been working with his Simpson Educational Support Advocate and a volunteer Simpson tutor to help him catch up in school and this coming school year he will be entering the fourth grade. He is bright, energetic, and happy.

 

Kim and Justin attended the recent Family Housing Summer Barbeque together. All the people with whom they have worked at Simpson were excited to see them and to witness how well they are doing. Kim has a happy look about her. It seems to be a look of hope for the future.

 

LaTonya's New Home

La Tonya’s new home is one of those houses where everyone gathers: family, friends, and neighbors. And no matter who they are, everyone calls LaTonya mom. “I’m so happy. Everybody likes it here; they say it has a good vibe. Nobody ever wants to leave.”

 

La Tonya’s house does have a good vibe. It’s a big, sprawling two story with an enormous basement. There’s a front porch just waiting to be used this summer and the kids couldn’t wait for spring so that they could play on their huge new lawn. When you enter the front door you are greeted by a pristinely set dining room table and a farmhouse-sized kitchen where LaTonya and her daughter Shanique love to cook together. And the youngest son Stephon loves to eat what they create. The living room is the hub of activity where the family has movie nights, does puzzles together, and laughs a lot.

 

Family is a big part of what makes this house a special place. It’s the kind of family that you don’t often see. Everyone takes care of everyone. Grandma and Grandpa spend time with the kids. LaTonya chuckles and says “The kids just love Mom and Dad.” And Grandma beams with pride as LaTonya’s oldest son Shain brings out a set of artistic pens he made in shop class, and as she shows us drawings Rikwon has done. Rikwon is the family artist.

 

LaTonya and her long-time partner Robert have taken in her sister’s kids, and along with their own three kids, and Grandpa and Grandma, it makes a big happy household. Their new house has allowed them to do what is most important to LaTonya; to keep the family together.

 

LaTonya has faced a lot of challenges through the years, but faces each day with hope, excitement and gratitude. “I loved everyone I worked with at Simpson. I’m so thankful to the Family Housing program for helping us get to where we are at.”

 

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