Yvonne, her husband Charles, and their four daughters had been living at Vintage Park for a while when two of the daughters began attending the After School Program. The family had gone from crisis to crisis, and soon after they started working with New Futures, the family suffered a great loss when the family’s eldest daughter passed away suddenly. New Futures was able to help coordinate raising funds for the funeral and provide structure, routine and loving support for the two girls in the program. In addition, a Family Advocate met with the family at least weekly to provide emotional support, help the family provide for their basic needs, and discuss how the death of the oldest sibling was affecting the younger three children and how to approach these issues with the children.

Yvonne was pregnant at the time and understandably became quite depressed over the loss of her child. With the help of New Futures, she was able to realize she needed support to grieve and went to a bereavement group and continued attending a supportive church.
The family decided to move out of Vintage Park and into a house before Yvonne’s last baby (another daughter) was born. At the beginning of this school year Vintage Park received a phone call from Yvonne and her husband Charles. They recounted how well the family is doing living in a house. Charles is, for the first time, training for an employment program as a housing inspector and Yvonne is working at a fast food restaurant. They say they are tired of being dependent on DSHS and are enjoying the process of becoming independent. Their four daughters are doing very well and want to come back to the After School Program for a visit. They were extremely thankful for the support they received from New Futures and decided they couldn’t have moved toward greater self-sufficiency and contentment without the once-needed help.

To read more inspiring stories about the kids and families of New Futures, visit our Story Archives.