Today we congratulate Jacqueline, Lewis and their new baby girl for getting a home of their own. When Jacqueline first contacted us in early August she was 8 months pregnant and she had her daughter on August 18. As such, we were happy to help them get into a place of their own by building a budget with them and paying the security deposit after they found a place they could afford. They just needed a little hand up financially so they could have a new start with their newborn daughter. Read their story below:

Hi OTS, my name is Jacqueline. It’s been almost 2 months now that we once again have become homeless. Back in 2015 me and my boyfriend were staying in motels when we could afford to and when we couldn’t we would be in our car sleeping. Thankfully we were able to find an apartment within our budget and we moved in March of 2016. Signed a 9 month lease and then renewed the lease once it was up. On June 2017 we received a letter stating our lease would not be renewed and so we started looking for a new place. Now by that time not only am I 8 months pregnant just about to start my maternity leave but my boyfriend job assignment had ended since it was through a staff agency. So I became the only source of income in our home. Due to that we were not able to afford the deposit for the apartments we were inquiring about. July 31st came and we had to move out. Thankfully I have had family who was able to help and did not want to see us back in motels with a newborn. We have been staying at my cousin’s house since July 31st and on August 18th we received our biggest blessing, our new baby daughter. I don’t think there is any better reason than her on why we need this huge blessing from you, OTS. Even though we have had great support and we have been able to have a roof over our head, it’s still not our home. We are still without a home of our own and I don’t want my daughter to experience such hardship at just days from being born into this world. We just need a little bit of help to get through this and I hope you can be our next blessing. Thank you for your time and attention.
-Jacquelin

Jacquelin and Lewis, from all of us at OTS, we congratulate you both on your new home and especially on the birth of your new daughter!

This family brings our placements this year to 138 and our total since we started in 2014 up to 448.

Read about our campaign to House 1000 Homeless By 2020