A success story…Social Workers don’t always get to hear what happens next.

Recently I was walking into an apartment office to discuss one of my clients with the manager. A woman stepped out of the office and immediately said I looked familiar to her. We talked for a minute and figured out she lived in the homeless shelter at the same time I was doing my internship.

She told me she remembered that I helped her figure out her credit score and what she needed to do to improve things.

She was excited to announce that she left the shelter 6 years ago and has lived continuously in an apartment ever since.

I think many of us assume there is no hope for people on the street. We believe they have chosen a life of drugs, alcohol, or laziness. Because we don’t always see the positive outcomes…we assume they don’t happen. When our group serves the homeless we hear lots of hopeful stories of getting a job, having an apartment or getting back in touch with family. We rarely get to see those things actually happen.

I have no doubt it took a lot of commitment and hard work for this lady to stabilize her life and maintain a life with shelter, consistency and security. I am so very happy I had the opportunity to hear her story of success.