Quanicia's Story

 

Five years ago, Quanicia had no idea how she would pay the next month’s bills or where her family would sleep each night. She worked hard to make ends meet, but it never seemed enough. She fell into a deep depression, and all hope seemed lost.

Then the Lord opened the door for her in our Family Care Home in Gardendale.

“. . . when I first [arrived], I wasn’t sure how I was going to take a bath, because I didn’t have any towels to use,” said Quanicia. “I didn’t know what to use for our beds. When we came in, though, there were bedsheets, blankets, clothes, and towels. [There was even] a teddy bear waiting for my little girl on her bed. I didn’t think we’d even have our own room. It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.”

Quanicia went from surviving day-to-day to having stability for her family. During her time in the year-long program, you equipped her with life-changing tools for success. Your gifts provided her with steady housing, healing through counseling, financial planning, and more.

Five years later, she has a stable, loving home for her two daughters. She no longer worries if there are beds for her family. By learning to budget and opening a savings account, she’s no longer anxious about bills.

Her home is now filled with the sounds of her daughters laughing and playing. Her oldest daughter, Briella, loves playing board games and cooking for the family. Her youngest daughter, Bella, is a little fashionista always playing dress up.

Quanicia is currently working as a corrections officer. She is also enrolled in classes to earn a degree in social work.

Quanicia not only set up for success—she now has the opportunity to dream.

In the next five years, she wants to set up a nonprofit to impact other struggling mothers. Through this nonprofit, classes would be available for struggling women to learn job skills that set them up for success. God used her experience in the program and her current job to plant the seeds of this dream in her heart.

“Working in a women’s prison has helped me see the direction I want to go in for my nonprofit,” said Quanicia. “There are a lot of women that get incarcerated at a young age and never get their GEDs. There are a lot of women I work with currently that just kind of landed in a bad situation because they were trying to take care of their child, were kicked out of their homes, or got pregnant at a young age.”

God is using the generosity of donors, churches, and volunteers to create a better future for struggling moms, providing them with the tools to create a loving, stable home for their children.

To learn more about our family care program, click here.