A home for second chances

St. Margaret of Cortona’s transitional housing program offers struggling families the resources they need to get back on their feet.

Vanessa, 20, sat nervously on a second-hand couch Friday, feeding her 4-month-old son and quietly examining her new apartment. It was her first day as a resident of the St. Margaret of Cortona transitional housing program in Woodbridge and, having arrived less than an hour earlier, she was still taking in her surroundings as the staffers helped get her accommodated with the things she needed.

“When they said they’d bring me a crib, I didn’t expect that,” she said. “All these things, the towels, it’s like, I don’t know these people. It’s really nice. You don’t meet people like this every single day.”

After spending months battling debt and homelessness, Vanessa has been given a second chance. While she’s grateful to have a roof over her head, she said she is overwhelmed.

“I’m really scared,” she said. “This is something new.”

Her old way of life included lots of bills, no job and no place to stay. She had been working retail, but was laid off when she didn’t have a place to live. With her infant son by her side, Vanessa spent time at the Calvary Christian Counseling Center in Manassas, as well as her mother’s house, but neither situation lasted long. Eventually she spent the last of her money on a hotel room, before finally resorting to sleeping in her car.

At St. Margaret of Cortona, Vanessa will receive help with saving money, learning life skills and finding a higher-paying job. It will be a lot of work, but she thinks it is exactly what she needs.

“I’m tired of not being able to provide for my son,” said Vanessa, who received her GED last month after four years. “I really want to go to school; I really want to get a job.”

St. Margaret of Cortona is a Catholic Charities-run transitional housing program for families — so far, all women and children — who have just come from a homeless shelter and are trying to transition back into independence. The facility was bought and renovated through Rooted in Faith — Forward in Hope funds.

To help the families, the program provides fully-furnished, one-, two- or three-bedroom apartments, affordable rent based on income, counseling, help with finances and budgeting, and classes in job and parenting skills.

According to Christine Neijstrom, the program director, the primary goals of St. Margaret of Cortona are to help mothers like Vanessa learn to support themselves and stay out of debt.

“We want to get them out of those low-paying jobs and into college,” Neijstrom said. “We want to ensure that they don’t end up in this situation again.”

Unlike homeless shelters, which can usually only offer beds for up to two months, St. Margaret of Cortona allows residents to stay for up to two years, giving them more time to get their lives and finances back in order.

The program has been up and running since March and the apartments are already filled with mothers trying to transition back into the working world.

“It has not been a challenge at all filling up the units,” Neijstrom said. “Projections said we would have had five residents right now and we have 29.”

Of the 29 residents, 19 are children ranging in age from 4 months to 15 years. The mothers, coming from all ages and races, are homeless because of low incomes, high bills, and — in every case but one — domestic violence.

Most of the residents come in working low-end service sector jobs where there is little hope for advancement. The median full-time salary of residents is well below the poverty line, at $17,160. With that income, trying to pay for childcare, rent, car payments, grocery bills and other expenses becomes impossible.

As a result, some residents have become victims of predatory loans or, because of debts, can no longer go to traditional banks and must manage money with check-cashing facilities that charge fees and high interest rates.

Through the program, they take classes and work with career counselors to find higher-paying office jobs. They also work with case manager Nicolette Davis to keep track of their spending and stick to a budget as they pay off their debts.

For Neijstrom, one of the most inspiring things about her work with the program has been all the help and donations the program has received from the local community.

“We would not be here without the help of the community,” Neijstrom said.

This winter, when the apartments were being renovated, Catholic Charities received 40 truckloads worth of furniture donations and watched as people from all over the diocese helped set up the rooms for the dedication ceremony with Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde.

Now, there are 30 volunteers who continue to help, teaching career or finance classes and helping residents with parenting skills. Neijstrom said they can always use more people.

She hopes to start a one-on-one tutoring program for the older children in the fall and a mentor program for the families, in which “buddy families” will spend time with residents as friends and role models.

The program is still looking for donations — especially funding for childcare costs — and job opportunities where residents can gain work experience.

“We need people to go out there in the work world and act as advocates for our residents,” Neijstrom said.

Neijstrom and Davis said they love watching the residents improve their lives.

“When mothers come in to interview for a place in the beginning, the potential just oozes out of them,” Davis said. “It’s so great watching good habits forming and watching their mindsets changing as they become so much more confident and open and ready to take on anything.”

One resident, Geraldine, has been living in the apartments with her three children — a 1-year-old, a 4-year-old and a 9-year-old — since Easter weekend. Before that, she lived in the Volunteers of America homeless shelter in Woodbridge for a month.

She lost her home after financial difficulties caused by the end of her marriage to a military veteran, who had become violent after returning from Iraq injured and suffering from post-traumatic stress. Since her family and most of her friends are in California, Geraldine had nowhere to stay after she left him and could no longer pay her bills.

At St. Margaret of Cortona, Geraldine has been receiving assistance with her daycare costs and taking classes in financial literacy and career counseling.

“I’ve been getting a lot of help with finances and even programs I thought I didn’t need like parenting have been very helpful,” she said.

Although the program is tiring, requiring her to go to work, come home and attend classes every night, Geraldine says her life has changed for the better because her children are happier and she’s not always worrying about her finances.

“I look at where my life was and where my life is now and I see God has blessed me tremendously,” Geraldine said. “After going into the shelter, losing my home, losing my vehicle, it was hard because I felt like I failed, but God has brought me a long way and I thank Him for where I am in life.”

Geraldine says she hopes one day to own her own home and not have to worry about her credit report.

“I continue to thank God that I’m now at the shelter and I have hope,” she said. “It’s been a learning experience for me and I’m thankful to Catholic Charities for helping me get better through this situation.”