Success Stories

As a child, Angel experienced domestic and sexual violence that caused her to develop severe PTSD and bipolar disorder. As she grew older, she struggled to work a steady job while parenting her children and managing her mental health but always had her mother to rely on when her mental health struggles overwhelmed her.

When her mom died, Angel experienced a nervous breakdown that left her unable to work. She was able to send her two oldest sons to live with a relative, but without any other support she and her youngest son and daughter became homeless. Sometimes they were able to stay at a friend or relative’s home for a while, but the stays never lasted long. When they couldn’t find shelter, they lived on the streets or in abandoned buildings. Often, they went without food.

Angel worked when she could, but lasting side effects from a medication left her in chronic pain and living on the streets had worsened her mental health so that focusing at work was nearly impossible. Inevitably, she would lose her job and be back on the streets with her children, where she experienced more violence. Alone, lifting her family out of homelessness felt impossible.

After more than seven years of struggle, Angel and her family found Nicholas House’s New Horizons program for chronically homeless families with a disability. Through the program, she was able to move her family into an apartment and reunite with her two oldest sons, parenting them full-time again for the first time in seven years. She was overjoyed to have her family together again.

With the guidance of her case manager, Angel received the medical and mental health support she needed to stabilize and was able to attend classes that gave her the resources she needed to plan for the future. When she had no one else to turn to, her case manager offered a listening ear. Slowly, things got better.

With her case manager’s support, Angel got a job managing billing and inventory for a logistics center and moved into a three-bedroom rental home with her children. Today, her family is thriving: Angel is confidently managing her mental health and attends every PTA meeting for her children’s schools, her oldest son will be attending college in the fall, her two middle sons are in high school and her youngest daughter is a two-time national champion track runner. In the future, Angel dreams of becoming a homeowner.

We are so amazed by Angel’s journey and her persistence in the face of enormous challenges. Her resilience inspires us and reminds us of the difference a loving and supportive community can make for the homeless families Nicholas House serves. We salute her as she steps into a bright new future with her family!

Shahidah was free from her arranged marriage, but she lost her children and became homeless. Her heart was broken, but Shahidah knew she had to keep going somehow. “I had a survivor’s instinct,” she says.

After moving to Atlanta for a fresh start, Shahidah was optimistic and hopeful about the future. She fell in love with a man. They moved into an apartment together and she became pregnant with twins. To her horror, he became abusive. After she gave birth, he lost his job and abandoned them. Turned away by his family and her friends, Shahidah and her 6-month-old daughters started living on the street.

After a period of fear and instability bouncing between day and night shelters, Shahidah found Nicholas House’s family shelter, where she and her daughters had a room of their own. With support from her case manager, Shahidah got a job and arranged for childcare for her girls. Most important, she knew that every day, she and her daughters had a safe place and welcoming community to come back to. “Nicholas House was the only stability I had. It was home,” she says.

After graduating from Nicholas House, Shahidah was determined to build a better future. She went back to school to get her GED and then earned a certification to qualify her for higher-paying jobs. She started her career in the administrative field, became involved in community service and built a stable, happy life for herself and her family.

Today, more than 20 years after graduating from Nicholas House’s programs, Shahidah is a proud wife, mother and grandmother who has happily reconnected with her oldest children. She has decided to share her story to inspire and uplift families going through similar challenges.

“I believe we’re put on this earth to help people,” Shahidah says. “Today, I’m sharing my story because I feel love from everyone and I choose to give love back.”

We are so grateful to Shahidah for sharing her story of strength and tenacity– and amazed by her spirit! Her shining example will inspire families in crisis for years to come.

When Deborah was pregnant, her husband became abusive. After giving birth to their daughter, she started a years-long journey to gather the strength and courage to leave. Finally, she escaped-but her freedom from violence came at a cost. She and her daughter were left without a place to live.

Fortunately, Deborah and her daughter found Nicholas House, which provided them with the safety and stability they needed for Deborah to start divorce proceedings, get a job and make plans for a career that will allow her to provide for her family long-term. Classes on nutrition have helped her to plan healthy meals for her daughter and enrolling in a karate class has built her confidence.

Today, Deborah and her daughter have lived 5 months free from abuse and are in an apartment of their own. Deborah has plans to get her driver’s license with the goal of becoming a professional bus driver. Speaking about her journey, Deborah says: “I have the freedom to embrace who I really am… my daughter is really happy. She’s excited to have a home now.”

Deborah’s resiliency reminds us of the strength of so many of the parents in our programs-and the power of a mother’s love. We are so excited to hear about the next chapter in her family’s life.

Renee* never imagined that her family would be without a home of their own.

When she had to go on bed rest due to pregnancy, Renee lost her job. Then her boyfriend of three years decided that he didn’t want to be a parent and ended the relationship, leaving Renee heartbroken and without income or support as the bills stacked up.

Eventually, Renee and her 12- and 14-year-old sons were evicted from their apartment.

Desperate, she slept on the living room floor of her friend’s one-bedroom apartment with her sons while she diligently searched for resources, knowing that their arrangement couldn’t last. Unable to work, she felt stuck and helpless.  What’s worse, as she called one resource after another, she found that many shelters wouldn’t allow her sons to stay with her because they were teenage boys. Every day, she worried herself sick over what would happen to her sons—and the baby that was coming whether or not she had a home.  “I felt so alone—that I was going to be judged,” Renee says.

After a weeks-long search, at 8 months pregnant Renee found Nicholas House and was able to move into our emergency shelter with her family intact. Given the safety and support she needed, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy.  Only four weeks after giving birth, she got a job at Hartsfield-Jackson that allows her to support her family.  With the help of her case manager, Renee paid off her debt, secured childcare for her newborn and moved with her children into their own apartment.

Renee has decided to come back to volunteer at Nicholas House to share her story and help uplift and inspire other women in the shelter program.

“Giving back is my way of sharing my gratitude,” Renee says. “The volunteers at Nicholas House made a difference—they talked to me. I realized that I don’t have to be ashamed to ask for help.  Now I want to raise my babies and teach them to give back.”

Renee’s strength and tenacity in the face of adversity reminds us of the power of a mother’s love—and the courage of the clients we serve.  We salute her achievements and look forward to seeing her empower others as she moves into her new life.

*Name and likeness changed to protect the privacy of the client.

When her musically-gifted oldest son was diagnosed with a brain tumor the size of a fist, Temica dropped everything to take him to Atlanta for surgery and rehabilitation. Against the odds, he survived the surgery but emerged with significant brain damage. He needed an expensive medication regime and full-time care and even needed to learn how to walk again.

Without anyone who could reliably look after her newly-disabled son, Temica was unable to work and she and her other children soon found themselves homeless in a new city. Temica was determined and well-organized, but struggled to find resources that would allow her entire family to stay together due to either her sons’ age or the size of her family– until she found Nicholas House.

After entering our emergency shelter, Temica was able to keep her family intact and allow her younger children to focus on just experiencing childhood while she cared for her oldest son.  She worked with her case manager to secure benefits and make a plan that would allow them to move forward with her son’s disability.

Temica is proud to share that she has secured a beautiful rental home, where she is now living with her children. Her next step is earning disability benefits for her son and finding a work-from-home or weekend job that will allow her to continue caring for him full-time. Her youngest son, who is only five years old, shares that he plans to be a doctor one day so that he can help people like his brother feel better.

We are so inspired by Temica’s strength and willpower in the face of hardship and so proud of the steps she has made toward self-sufficiency. Seeing the smiles on her children’s faces reminds us why we are honored to serve homeless families in need of compassion, stability and a second chance.

Everything changed when she was laid off from her job at a bank, where she had worked for 15 years.  Karen had never expected to lose her job and was deeply depressed trying to find a new job—her old job had paid $23 an hour and every new opportunity seemed to pay only $8.25, which wasn’t enough to pay her bills.

She was also limited in what jobs she could take because she needed the flexibility to look after her daughter, who has lived with a brain tumor since she was in 3^rd grade.  Thankfully the tumor isn’t life-threatening, but it causes severe and frequent headaches that prevent her from participating in a traditional school environment.  It also means that she has to be closely monitored—and that Karen can’t work full-time unless it’s from home.

Karen managed to find a part-time daycare job that brought in some money, but it wasn’t enough to pay her mortgage.  After months of struggle and paying thousands to lawyers to try to save it, she lost the house that she had bought 11 years earlier to foreclosure.  She loved the house and was close with her neighbors.  She nursed her mother through her final days in that house.  She was heartbroken to lose it.

After losing their house, Karen and her daughter were forced to move from one hotel to another.  Karen was determined to find a way to get back on their feet, so she searched for help online, found Nicholas House and was quickly accepted into our emergency shelter.

Nicholas House provided them with a safe, stable place to place to stay, adult education classes that helped Karen gain budgeting and nutrition skills and case management that focused on interview skills, building savings and securing housing.  Within a few months, they were able to move out of the shelter into their own apartment!

Today, Karen is still interviewing for better jobs and has a plan in place to increase her income. She is proud that she has been able to set aside savings for her family and move into a home of their own.  She is working hard to help her daughter get to where she needs to be and make sure that her medical and academic needs are taken care of – and Nicholas House is so glad to have helped her on her journey.

Dante was distraught that he couldn’t see his daughters and worried about their well-being living with his ex’s controlling new boyfriend, who he knew was involved in criminal activities.  He worked hard to look after his sons on his own, but couldn’t find a new job that paid enough to sustain their housing.  Eventually, they became homeless.

Dante desperately searched for help, but he couldn’t find a shelter that would provide his family with enough time in their programs to get back on their feet—and then, because most shelters separate men from women and children, couldn’t find a shelter that would allow him to stay with his children.

Fortunately, Dante found Nicholas House, where we keep families of any composition intact.  While in Nicholas House’s emergency shelter program, he acquired a full-time job and received case management focusing on securing housing.  His sons enjoyed comprehensive Youth Services including a free After-School Program and summer camp and formed lasting friendships with other children.

Thanks to his hard work and the support they received at Nicholas House, Dante and his sons moved into an apartment of their own with a spacious living room.  Dante has plans to increase his hourly wage using a specialized skill set from his nursing home job and has recently filed for legal aid to try to regain custody of his daughters with the support of his ex’s family.

Dante has a plan to move forward and create a better future for his family, providing security for his sons and reuniting with his daughters.  We are proud of the progress he has made and proud to provide services that allow loving single dads like Dante to stay with their children while they work toward self-sufficiency!

April and Arnold had always been able to provide for their family.  Living in a beautiful town home, Arnold was the primary breadwinner, working full-time as a supervisor at a drug store while April worked part-time at a beauty supply store to bring in extra income and allow her the flexibility to look after their children.

Everything changed one evening when Arnold suddenly found himself unable to breathe while walking home from work.  He was rushed to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with congestive heart failure.  This began a heartbreaking cycle of Arnold returning to work because he knew his family depended on him, then landing back in the hospital when his symptoms flared back up.  After several long stays in the ICU, Arnold returned from medical leave to find himself without a job.

April was deeply worried about her husband’s health, but they both knew they had to make ends meet somehow.  They moved into a smaller, less expensive apartment and Arnold found a new job, but soon found himself hospitalized again.  His doctors told him that he couldn’t work or else he might die; in the meantime, Medicaid covered some of his medical bills but not all.  The bills stacked up as April tried to provide for the family by herself—until the family was evicted and forced to live in a motel.  While living in the motel, April was diagnosed with aggressive stage 2 cervical cancer, leaving both parents ill, in need of expensive medical treatment and without a clear path to providing for themselves and their children.

Fortunately, April and Arnold found Nicholas House, where they were quickly welcomed into our emergency shelter program and received the support and stability they needed to forge a path forward with their family intact.  With the guidance of their case manager, April was able to start radiation and chemotherapy treatment, Arnold was able to improve his health enough to start a new job, the children were able to adjust to a routine and they cleared up past debts and built savings.

Recently, they moved into their own apartment.  April’s doctors say that her cancer has gone into remission and she is planning to go full-time at her work.  Arnold is managing his health and positioning himself for a promotion at his job.  Most importantly, their family is together and happy to have moved into their own home—and we are so proud of how far they have come!

After years of instability, Likeyshia was able to secure a spot in an emergency shelter before landing in the Nicholas House Homeless to Homes housing program.  While in the program, she received a partial rent subsidy on an apartment of her own while receiving intensive case management that focused on getting her back into school for her associate’s degree in early childhood development and giving her the interview practice she needed to move from a part-time airport job to a full-time daycare position.

She has since graduated from the Homeless to Homes program and maintained full-time employment in a daycare for three years and her own housing for nearly two.  She has also welcomed another beautiful daughter into her family!

Today, Likeyshia is working on completing her associate’s degree and enjoys attending monthly life skills classes offered by Nicholas House, where she says she is treated “like family.”  She recently applied for a house with Habitat for Humanity after learning about their programs in a Nicholas House class and is optimistic about her family having their own house soon.

With Nicholas House’s help, Likeyshia was able to work hard and create a new start for herself and her family.  She knows the importance of keeping hope alive and shares that with her family every day.  To others experiencing homelessness, she advises: “Never give up and always think of your kids.”

RoShawn had moved to Atlanta from New Jersey to help her friends with their bills and in hopes of a fresh start and a better environment for her children.  She had been living off her savings while looking for a job, but losing their accommodations was a major blow.  The family was able to stay in an extended-stay hotel for a while, but the hotel was expensive and their steps to a permanent home weren’t clear—until RoShawn found Nicholas House.

RoShawn and her children were welcomed into the Nicholas House shelter program, which provided them with a safe place to live and ensured that their basic needs were met while her children benefited from comprehensive Youth Services Programs and she received intensive case management focusing on budgeting and building savings.

With determination, hard work, and a positive attitude, RoShawn was able to get two part-time jobs that provided her with a 40-hour workweek, flexibility to spend time with her children, and the potential of going full-time.  Her family recently moved into a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment of their own and she is proud that her children are on the honor roll and she is saving money every month.  One day, she plans to be a homeowner.

When asked about her experience at Nicholas House, RoShawn says, “It was a blessing from people you don’t even know—to help transition to a self-sufficient environment, to reality, to life.”  We are so glad to have helped her and hundreds of other families on their journey to self-sufficiency!

After spending time in shelters that either separated her from her two teenage sons or required her family to move every week, Lachelle found Nicholas House.  Lachelle was accepted into our Homeless to Homes program, which allowed her to keep her entire family together while she lived in a rent-subsidized apartment.  Working closely with a case manager, Lachelle was able to set aside enough money for a new car, the up-front costs to move to a new home, and an additional $1,000 in savings.

In summer of 2016, Lachelle graduated from the Homeless to Homes program and moved her family into a beautiful 4-bedroom rental home. She works full-time at a daycare and is close to completing her Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education, with plans to advance her career and increase her salary by working in the county school system.  She is saving to buy a house and is thrilled to be back on track and planning for the future.

Thanks to Nicholas House programs and Lachelle’s drive to succeed, her family’s future is looking bright!

Tamara knew that she had to make a radical change in her life when her ex-husband pulled her from her car to attack her on a busy street.  He had been abusive before, but she had hoped that the order of protection that the court had granted would protect her and her children.

With this latest assault, she realized that unless she took extreme measures, her ex-husband could one day kill her and leave her children without a mother.  Tamara mustered the courage to leave her hometown, her job, and all of her support systems behind in the hopes of a better life and a new start for her children.

Tamara drove her children and her possessions to Georgia, where they bounced between shelters and extended-stay hotels while she searched tirelessly for a long-term solution.  Her persistence paid off: after calling Nicholas House, she entered our shelter program.  Nicholas House immediately provided her family with a safe place to live.  They received much-needed support services that focused on providing them access to multiple resources that would help Tamara safely care for her children and regain employment.

With only a short stay, Tamara was able to secure a job and move her family into their own three-bedroom apartment.  She credits her time at Nicholas House for teaching her to think ahead and be proactive about planning for the future.

Like many parents facing homelessness, Tamara was motivated to get back on her feet.  She just needed a little support and Nicholas House was there for her.  We congratulate Tamara on her determination to become self-sufficient and rebuild her life.  Now, her future looks bright—and she hopes that her children will learn from her example.

*Name and some identifying details have been changed to protect her identity.

Without hesitation, Ms. Stiles came to the rescue and agreed to take custody of the three children, all under the age of five. It was no easy task, but Ms. Stiles did everything she could. After trying her best to meet the children’s needs, she soon found that too large of a portion of her income was being poured into childcare costs, and there was not enough money for rent. She fell behind and no longer could afford both shelter and care for her grandchildren.

Thanks to a network of community resources, Ms. Stiles entered the Nicholas House Homeless to Homes (H2H) program. Through NHI parenting classes, Ms. Stiles received essential tips for caring for three young ones, despite her age. Her case manager helped her find affordable childcare and other assistance programs that gave her the foundation she needed to thrive.

Today, Ms. Stiles has a job where she’s making enough money to provide for her family. Not only has she been able to maintain stable housing, she has saved more than $3,000! Though trained as a professional hair stylist, she tapped into a real passion for child care. She earned a scholarship to attend school and hopes to open a daycare center so other caregivers can have access to vital childcare facilities.

Personally aware of how important affordable childcare has been to the survival and success of her family, Ms. Stiles is determined to provide that for others who are in her shoes. When asked what dreams Ms. Stiles has for her grandchildren, she responded “I want them to respect themselves and others, to treat everyone well; to be healthy, successful, and humble. Finally, I want them to appreciate everything.”

Judging by the resiliency and strong character of Ms. Stiles, we have no doubt that the children will grow up to be just like her – humble, smart, loyal, determined, and gracious.

*Image is not of Ms. Stiles.

Her part-time employment was not enough to keep a roof over her sons’ head without supplemental assistance from her brother. In the wake of such emotional loss, Ms. Walton quickly lost her home and became homeless.

After living in her car, she found the courage to approach Nicholas House. She was quickly enrolled in the Homeless to Homes (H2H) program, where she received a partial rental subsidy, along with intensive case management. Her case manager stressed the importance of proper budgeting and professional development.

Ms. Walton attended classes on financial management, upward career movement, and health. With her case manager supporting her along the way, Ms. Walton continued to apply for higher positions at her job. Within a few months, she received a promotion that not only offered full-time pay – it doubled her salary!

Today, Ms. Walton has been able to save more than three months of emergency funds, and is beginning the process of buying a home.

Like so many homeless mothers, Ms. Walton had the drive to succeed. She just needed some empowerment and guidance. This year at Nicholas House, more than 300 parents and their children have received the same empowerment and guidance, and are making better lives for their families!