A Family's New Beginning: Tasha's Letter
Our Family Care program is a safe place for moms and their children who, for a variety of reasons, find themselves homeless and in need a fresh start. Today we’d like to share with you a special letter from one of the moms we’ve cared for recently. In it, Tasha shares some of her story and how she’s seen God work in her life throughout her journey to start anew.
Tasha has two children, ages 4 and 13. She is currently working a full-time job as well as going to school full time, working to complete her bachelor’s degree within the next year! In her story below, we meet Tasha just before she found our Family Care program . . .
DISCOVERING FAMILY CARE
After leaving Mississippi and a really bad marriage, I came back home to Birmingham. I was staying at a family member’s house, but that turned out to not be a good situation for us either. I didn’t know there was a substance abuse problem in the home, and it was not a good environment for us.
I just began to pray and call out to God for His help. The situation looked so bleak to me and it was hard for me see how to get out of it. But I just began to give God His own words back to him. He said He would never leave me nor forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:6). He said He has plans to prosper me and to give me hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11). He said He would perfect that which concerns me (Psalm 138:8). I held onto those scriptures every time I went to apply for housing and was turned down, over and over again.
I learned about the Family Care program from a woman that I was trying to rent an apartment from. My credit was bad, and I had just started working a new job, so she did not want to take a chance on renting to me. She told me that there was a home for women like me, that were having to restart their lives, who had children and were just trying to get by. I got in contact with a social worker at ABCH. I told her my story and we met in person. I completed my application and I waited and prayed, and continued to stand on the Word of God. She finally called me about a week later and told me we were approved. I was elated. I thanked God for His mighty hand moving on my behalf.
A MOVE OF GOD
Coming to Family Care was truly a move from God. It made me realize that God’s plan is and will always be better than my own. I found real, agape love here. The heart of God truly does move through the staff here. One thing that being here has taught me, is how to give. It has just amazed me to see how people, who have no clue who I am, will just give so generously from their hearts. It has moved me to see all the love and support that is given to me and my children from complete strangers. I thank God for the Family Care program and all that they have done and continue to do in the lives of women and children who just need a little help to get back on their feet.
My children have seen and experienced the true love of “Jesus’s angels.” I have never let my children believe in Santa Claus, because I always wanted them to know that every gift is from above. So, whenever they receive gifts, I always tell them that they are from Jesus’s angels. The past year for them has been amazing. They have had more good days and some of the best experiences living here, than any place else I could think of. My 13-year-old got to play in the school band, with a free clarinet thanks to ABCH reaching out to some organizations that gifted it to her. She even got to go to Orlando and play in the band competition. My four-year-old has met a life-long friend here in Family Care. They are inseparable, and they love playing together.
A NEW BEGINNING
Being in the Family Care program has allowed me to free up so much of my time and resources, that I will be able to complete my bachelor’s degree in two years, instead of the three years my school wanted me to do. I was also able to pay off all my debt and get my credit back on track. I know that through my faith in God, a lot of hard work and determination, and this program, I have been able to achieve great things.
My house manager, social worker, and counselor from ABCH and Pathways were all instrumental in helping me gain my life back. These friends, as well as the many people of the home office that we never get to see, are true ambassadors for Christ. To all at ABCH—I can’t tell you all how grateful, how blessed, and how empowered I feel to have gone through this program, coming from a place of desperation and despair, into a place of peace, strength, renewal, confidence, and hope. You all have changed my life and God has a special place in Heaven for the work you do on His behalf. I thank you all and I wish the abounding blessing and everlasting grace of our Lord Jesus Christ upon you.
P.S.—I went back to the woman that denied me a one bedroom apartment only one year ago. She has now approved me for a 3 bedroom/2 bath apartment, and I already put the deposit on it. Won’t God do it!?
*Photo has been changed for privacy purposes.