Our Success is YOUR Success….
Thanks to our generous donors and supporters, we have been able to witness countless success stories here at the Lighthouse! (all names changed for confidentiality)
Kaufman Drive is a wonderful place for single-parent families to live, work and meet their personal life goals. Rita and her son came to the Lighthouse after living in a shelter for abused women. She quickly adapted to life at KD and started working on goals right away. After obtaining a job cleaning department stores, Rita signed up for physical therapy assistant classes at Butler County Community College. Rita was able to purchase a vehicle from Wheels of Work and finally obtained permanent housing through section 8. Rita now lives on her own, works and is in the process of reuniting her entire family!
Craig was in an unhealthy home envorinment where he suffered emotional and physical abuse before he entered our Penney House program at the Lighthouse. Penney House is our home for 18-21 year old men. An avid volunteer at the LH, Craig continued his high school education at a local school and graduated with honors. He also attended Dave Ramsey Financial Peace classes. He is now attending the University of Akron and is thriving. Craig still keeps in touch with several staff members at The Lighthouse. Way to go Chris!!
We see many youth age out of the foster care system only to find themselves unprepared for what the “real world” will bring to them. Suzanne was no exception to this rule. She lived at Blanchard House, our program for 18-21 year old girls for six months and made minimal progress. She decided to leave and try to make it on her own. Suzanne quickly became homeless again and turned back to the Lighthouse for support. This time she understood what she wanted and what the program was offering her. She enrolled and completed beauty school, passed her state boards and moved into permanent housing. She is now employed full-time as a beautician with full benefits and is working towards the goal of getting her drivers license. What a turn around!
Kaufman Drive is such a unique transitional housing program. Single parent (male or female) families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless recieve the opportunity to obtain stabilty and work on goals of education, employment, budgeting and permanent housing. Alison came to us with a plethora of issues in her personal life. After losing her apartment and bouncing from friends homes, she was relived to become a resident at Kaufman Drive. With two children to care for and another one the way, Alison was so ecstatic at the opportunities her two boys had at Kaufman Drive. They were able to attend Salvation Army camp, and participate in many field trips through the Lighthouse Sonlight camp program. When Alison began experiencing difficulty with her pregnancy, the other mothers and resident manager at Kaufman Drive embraced her as family and helped her through the remaining months of her pregnancy. The baby was born with many complications and was unable to come home right away. After two months of prayer and care, we welcome her little baby girl to her home at Kaufman Drive. After recovering, Alison started working at a local restaurant, and started attending counseling session with the father of her three children. She recently received a section 8 voucher and moved into her own apartment close to her kids school on Center Avenue in Butler. She hopes to get married soon! We continue to keep in touch with Amanda and her kids. What an amazing story to take part in. God is good!
Updated March 3,2009
The following is a letter we received from one of the parents of a boy who was in the Penney House program:
November 12,2008
Dear Vern and Jaime,
I am writing this letter with much gratitude in my heart. My son stayed at The Lighthouse at your transitional housing just a few years ago. I believe because of the program that The Lighthouse Foundation offers, my son is alive and doing well. As you know with most of the kids that come through your doors, they have made some very poor choices in their lives, and many of their choices were brought on by circumstances in their lives that were out of their control. My son was one of those. I struggled as a newly divorced single parent back then, and I did the best I could to cover their basic needs and I wasn’t always around as I worked two/three jobs. I have prayed so much and been on my knees so many times that I used to laugh that God had to be sick of hearing from me by now. But, as God answers our prayers in his time, mine were answered.
My son has been clean from drugs for about 25 months, he has a great full time job with great benefits, he is making very good money for not have a college degree. He will continue to get raises every 6 months for 4 years until he tops out on wages. He has a very small apartment and a 2004 vehicle. He has a girlfriend and a small puppy. I tell you this because he has come a long way. He said the last few years were very lonely as he had to remove himself from his old friends because of the poor influence. He has slowly been making new friends and he is in a pool-hall league and is one of the star team members. He seems to have hope for his future. He even called his Dad about 6 months ago and told him that he didn’t want the last thing he said to him to be how much he hated him, so that even though his Dad has a lot of problems, he doesn’t hate him and he hopes someday he will get his act together too.
I have recently re-married and moved. I keep in touch with my son. We are getting our lives together and we wanted to try to start sending you a little bit of donation money when we can, in hopes that some other boy/girl/family might get a better future because of your program.
Thank you for your support of youngsters and may God enrich your lives each day!
Rochelle
This past Christmas Eve, a spot opened up at Kaufman Drive and young mother-to-be Rochelle was able to move in. She had been on our waiting list for six months, during that time she had stayed with three different family members and friends. She also stayed at the New Castle Rescue Mission for 30 days. Katie, the resident manager along with some KD residents decorated a tree in Rochelle’s apartment and wrapped some Christmas gifts for her. Rochelle was able to spend Christmas Eve in her own town home, and spent Christmas day with some of her local family members.
Now, three months later, Rochelle is enrolled in “New Choices/New Options” through Butler County Community College, has dealt with mental health, drug and alcohol issues through the Irene Stacy Mental Health Center, and completely resolved her family conflicts. She has also maintained a healthy pregnancy and has moved into permanent housing! Her future plans include continuing her higher education, living indepently and going to nursing school!
Sometimes in the transitional housing world, things can look dark and discouraging. Complex situations, broken families, hard pasts, addictions… they are all common territory for our residents. However,Beth Grubbs, Director of Transitional Housing started the exit process with a resident that graduated from Penney House and came up with a list of everything he accomplished while in our program:
- Obtained his G.E.D.
- Began classes at BC3
- Obtained and maintained employment
- Signed on for a summer with AmeriCorps
- Obtained his driver’s license
- In the process of getting a vehicle voucher
- Started a checking/savings account
- Resolved family conflict, reconnected with his family
- Became drug-free
- Improved healthy lifestyle choices
- Volunteered at The Lighthouse and a local church
- Developed a stronger sense of self
- Became closer to God, attends church regularly
WOW! Now, if you would have known this resident when he moved in and seen some of what his life was like,you would be amazed! This is a great testimony of how we never know how God is working, who He is using, and when His timing is,we just need to take care of His Children the best we can and trust Him.
Angel
17 year-old Angel* wanted all the same things an average girl her age did. She loved school, got up every morning, got ready and went to class. Her drive to make it through high school, then attend college and have a career all followed the American dream formula. She was well-liked by her peers, involved in extra-curricular activities and appeared to have it all together. She came to school clean, with her homework complete and a positive attitude.
No one knew that Angel was homeless, living in a shed belonging to a local business on Route 8. She strategically planned her days and her showering schedule at her friend’s homes. For weeks, she was able to present herself in a way that no one would have guessed she was homeless.
One cold fall morning, she was discovered by an employee of the business, and she was referred to us. While staying here, Angel did not seem to be making huge amounts of progress in the program. She met a few of the goals she set, but no one was really sure how well she would do once she moved out. She spent her full 18 months in transitional housing, and then set out on her own.
Fast forward a few years: After leaving The Lighthouse, Angel had two children and still went on to attend a local four-year college, where she graduated with a degree in social services. She is now a counselor at a domestic violence agency in Allegheny County. She is in close contact with The Lighthouse and has been talking with us about ways for her agency to expand their services to include transitional housing! What a success!
Carl
With three months left in his senior year, Carl* found himself homeless due to family conflicts. Carl moved into Penney house and was able to finish school and graduate with his class. In July, Carl moved to Pittsburgh where he is now a student at Pittsburgh Technical Institute. Way to go Carl!
*names changed for confidentiality reasons
