Finding Home: Jessa & Maliya’s Story
Every day, at all four of Share’s shelters, our Housing Navigators help people and families find, secure and maintain permanent housing.
They assist with managing complex social services, navigating systemic barriers, communicating with landlords, and overcoming obstacles such as poor credit or prior evictions.
Their work is done with expertise, dedication and compassion … as well as delight, when a family finds a home, like this story below.
When Jessa and Maliya first came to the Winter Hospitality Overflow at St. Andrew Lutheran Church, everything they owned fit inside Maliya’s stroller. And Jessa was carrying Maliya’s car seat.
Jessa had finally left domestic violence at the hands of her husband. She and her daughter had been sleeping in a tent in a park. A police officer encouraged her to find shelter at the WHO.
They spent only a couple of weeks at the WHO before a room was available for them at Share Homestead.
She shared that it was “a safe place to move forward and not just to survive. No matter how little or big, the staff helped in so many ways to help me feel better.”
Jessa was approved for a housing voucher at Fourth Plain Commons, an affordable housing apartment complex; she and Maliya moved into their new home on May 1.
She shared “I’ve never had anything of my own. I’ve waited so long. I thought I wouldn’t qualify for anything, and this space is much more wonderful than I thought it could be.”
When asked what they looked forward to most in their new home, Jessa said, “The quiet park across the street.” She and her daughter enjoy identifying plants, learning about their healing properties and making spore prints of mushrooms and flowers.
And Maliya? Her answer came with a big smile: “My own bathroom and taking a bath with a bath bomb!”
