Today we congratulate Francesca and her soon-to-be daughter. Sometimes people experience a combination of events and need a hand up. We were happy to help Francesca get out of a difficult situation and get into a place of her own. Read her story below:

Hi! My name is Francesca, and I am currently 6 months pregnant. Though super excited for my baby girl to arrive this August the journey from then to now hasn’t been the easiest one. However, one of my favorite bible verse is Romans 5: 3­4 which has been my go to through everything. The father of my baby and I are no longer together (it was a very toxic relationship one that always consist of being blamed for everything, humiliated, shamed, demeaned so on and so forth­ just wasn’t healthy for the pregnancy or period), in fact the beginning of March when I stopped working due to not having the best first trimester he kicked us out of the apt in LA. From there, I moved to SD being my support group down here is much larger than it is there and I had nowhere to go or stay in LA (partially why it was so difficult the first months of my pregnancy because beyond the father who was in and out doing his own thing­ I really felt isolated and alone most of the time). Beyond my siblings, I don’t have family. Since early March I have been couch surfing amongst friends and living out of my car, working as many hours I can at my new job doing administration, getting in touch and setting up any resource(s) I possibly can through SD county/211/ single parent programs/church you name it! For me, creating a stable, safe and comfortable life for my daughter is everything, and I will do what I need to in order to make that happen. Though pregnant I am also going through a break up so emotionally that has been difficult especially knowing the father is already with someone else, but as said I am Thankfully, one of my friends brought up Off the Streets­ HB and said I should check it out, which I did that very minute and more than glad for it! Though things are still in the works it has given a new found sense of hope and stronger motivation to find us a place we can finally call home!