“I’ll be home for Christmas, just you wait and see...”
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Carla and her son Marshall will be “home for Christmas” in their own apartment, thanks to our new Permanent Supportive Housing program.
“I call this home... and I have so much hope for my future!”
For Carla and her six-year-old son Marshall, the words above are not just song lyrics. They’re a dream come true!
Not long ago, she was a homeless addict. Crack cocaine had taken away everything—her home, car and job as an executive assistant for an advertising agency. Being homeless herself was one thing—quite another for her little boy, the love of her life. Carla knew it was time to turn her life around—and that she needed God’s help.
“God totally led me here”
After making arrangements and taking Marshall to stay with her sister in Iowa, Carla came back to Omaha to look for a job and a place to live. Crack still had her in its grip, and in desperation she came to Open Door Mission’s Emergency Services. “One of the staff members showed me a copy of the program contract...it was everything that I had been praying for,” she says. “God totally led me here! I entered the program, and as soon as I got a room on the family side, I went and got my son.” Safely settled at Lydia House, Carla got down to work, which included digging deep to figure out why she kept using drugs. It was a painful process, but she says “...that’s what has helped me most. Here I’m finally discovering who I am and what kind of person I really am.”
By Christmas, Carla will be a graduate of the New Life Recovery Program! And through our new Permanent Supportive Housing, she’ll have her own apartment and be “home for the holidays.” Just a block away from the Mission, this program offers alumni and graduates like Carla affordable housing and keeps them close by. “I’ll still have all the benefits of being at the Mission, but I’ll have my independence,” she explains. “I’m still a little afraid to go out into the big, bad world! I want to stay close to my safe zone.”
Carla and Marshall are looking forward to celebrating the holidays with our Mission family. “Every day here is filled with love,” she says. “I can’t even imagine what Christmas is going to be like for Marshall!”
