Meet Sheriel. You helped her family find safe shelter!

Sheriel had a five-week-old newborn when she became homeless for the first time in her life. She had moved in with family to help care for her new child and was excited to become a mother. Things were going well through her pregnancy, but when she brought Elijah home, her father in-law relapsed into alcoholism. 

Soon the house became chaotic, with constant fighting, shouting, and unpredictable behavior. It was a bad situation, but she needed the help until she could go back to work. One night, Sheriel’s father in-law got tired of hearing her baby cry and kicked her out on the spot. She didn’t even have time to gather her diaper bag or formula.

“I didn’t have no thirty day warning or nothing, they just shut me out then and there. I asked for a few days at least to figure things out, but they didn’t want nothing to do with us anymore. It felt so wrong, but there was nothing I could do.”

Sleeping in her car and on friends’ couches, Sheriel desperately called every hotline she could for help. All she wanted was a stable home for her son. This was when Sheriel was connected to A New Leaf and within a few hours was placed into the La Mesita Family Homeless Shelter.

“This place gave us a roof over our heads when we needed it, but it’s so much more than that. It feels like me and Elijah have a home here.

“My son is comfortable here. He recognizes everyone’s faces and lights up when he sees Debbie, our case manager. Everybody that works here greets you with a smile every day and that’s what Elijah and I needed to get this fresh start.”

In just a few months, Sheriel has turned her entire life around so that she can provide a stable home for Elijah. She found a job, secured childcare for her son, and worked with A New Leaf to receive Rapid ReHousing support. With this extra bit of help, Sheriel will now be able to move into her own apartment.

“Because of A New Leaf I can have that fresh start I wanted. But I can also say I got here because of me. I put a lot of work in to make the most of this opportunity. I wanted to find a good job and to get my own place, but there were too many obstacles.”

“Here I was able to make the choices I wanted for me and for my baby, Elijah. My soul needed a lot of healing too, and I got that here. I truly could not be more grateful.”

“It made me feel like I was going to be a good mother again, because I had really felt horrible after everything that had happened.”

If you want to help families just like Sheriel’s, you can make a donation below. This donation will provide a family experiencing homelessness the shelter, food, and hope that they need to get back on their feet.