Anna
Anna delivered the thank you card one night after our Life Skills classes. Due to graduate from Homestretch, she wanted to express what being in Homestretch had meant to her and to her son. On one side of the thank you card she had drawn a scroll, and hand-written inside the scroll were these words:
“Dear Homestretch: Honestly, I don’t know how to express my feelings because there are no words to match my gratitude, however much like Shakespeare I might write. Above all else, you’ve shaped my attitude, nurturing me with discipline and light. I will always remember the hard work that you did for me and my son. How you do it, we don’t know, but from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being simply the best.”
— Love, Baby Miguel and Anna
When Anna came to Homestretch, she had no high school diploma, the only work she could find was an occasional housecleaning job, and she had a 3 month old son. She started studying for her GED, which she earned within a few months. Soon after she was pursuing an associate’s degree at NOVA, thanks to a scholarship we helped her find. She also worked full time, earning only $7 an hour at first but eventually going up to $15 an hour. She worked closely with our Credit Counselor to restore her credit, and by the time she was ready to graduate, she had saved almost $10,000.