|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Gifts to the Almanac’s Holiday Fund benefit InnVision Shelter Network and nine other local organizatons.
By Chris Berry, senior manager of development, InnVision Shelter Network.
Tiffany is a U.S. veteran who served in the Air Force. She was raising her three children when she became a victim of domestic violence. She fled with her children and lived with different family members while she struggled to find the stability to get back on track.
Fortunately, the Department of Veterans Affairs referred Tiffany to InnVision Shelter Network’s First Step for Families transitional shelter. “The name suits the place very well. First Step for Families felt like a home to us,” Tiffany says. “We were safe there.”
The family’s case manager, Andrea, guided Tiffany and her children every step of the way back to self-sufficiency. Tiffany worked tirelessly. She was employed full-time, raising her three children, and constantly applying for housing opportunities.
Her kids benefited from attending InnVision Shelter Network’s Summer Adventure Camp, which provides children with access to field trips and educational science, technology, and arts programs they may not have otherwise had access to.
With the support of our dedicated staff, the family was able to graduate from the program and move into a townhome in Sunnyvale. “It’s nice to feel comfortable and grounded again,” she says. “We have a nice landlord, our own rooms, and space.”
Tiffany has been working at a craft store for a year and a half, beginning as a sales associate, moving up to the position of cashier, and then earning a promotion to assistant manager. She also owns a jewelry business, complete with an online shop to showcase her handmade jewelry. She is working to grow her business and eventually become a vendor at craft fairs and festivals.
Tiffany is grateful to InnVision Shelter Network for the opportunity to build a new life for herself and her family.
InnVision Shelter Network provides shelter and supportive services for homeless families and individuals across the Peninsula and Silicon Valley.
Go to www.ivsn.org or call (650) 685-5880 for more information about InnVision Shelter Network, located at 181 Constitution Drive in Menlo Park.