Because of You… There is help & hope for people like Rachel – at Christmas and all year long.
“If we hadn’t come to the Mission, we would have lost our children.”
Rachel and her husband gave generously to help friends who couldn’t make ends meet. “But our friends used us, pretty much pushing us out on the street,” she says.
Drained of the little they had and now unable to afford rent, the young parents scrambled to secure safe housing. “We called over 40 shelters, and they were all full,” Rachel remembers.
Rachel’s husband worked odd jobs while she tried to help their two young kids escape the harsh desert heat. They’d sit for hours in a library. Sometimes she’d go to McDonald’s just to bathe her little ones in the sink.
They ended up on the streets, sometimes with only a tent or tarp. If they couldn’t get on their feet, CPS planned to adopt out their children. “It wasn’t fair,” Rachel says. “We weren’t bad parents – we just couldn’t get out of our situation.”
Rachel and her children entered a temporary women’s shelter – but her husband wasn’t allowed to stay.
Then Rachel discovered she was pregnant…
“Not having a bed for your children to sleep in at night… knowing your children are hungry and you can’t feed them… that kills a mother. That killed me every day.”
Fear of losing her children overshadowed the joyful news. But then a new friend suggested Rachel’s family try the Mission.
Here, Rachel and her children received their own room in our family house. With her husband staying in our men’s area, the family enjoyed more time together, and they had the time and safe environment to work toward making a better life. “We even have a kitchen,” Rachel says. “We’re able to feed our children like we would in our own home.”
Today, Rachel and her family have secured their own apartment, and are happily living independently – free from the streets and uncertainty.
Because of your support, Rachel, and other mothers like her, are finding help and hope when they walk through the doors of Coachella Valley Rescue Mission – during the holidays and all year long. “You don’t have to give up your kids because you’re homeless. The Mission has everything parents need to get back on your feet.”
To read our Fall 2021 issue of A New Dawn, click here.
Help other people like Rachel…
Rachel’s story of hope and healing is inspiring. Our New Life Programs exist to help other men and women in the Coachella Valley find healing. Will you help provide this help to others?