MANCHESTER, NH – In early 2017, desperate, and in an increasing abusive relationship, Tori and her young son Camren packed up their few belongings and left their home in Concord. “We literally had no place to go,” she says. “But we knew we couldn’t stay where we were. We had to get someplace safe.”
With the help of social service agencies, the two did find a temporary homeless shelter in Manchester but that was a short-term solution. “We needed a lot of help,” Tori says. “In addition to our immediate need of a place to live, my son was acting out due to what he had witnessed in our previous home.” While in the shelter, Tori learned about The Way Home and she and her son got a referral to the agency.
“For nearly 30 years, our agency has provided clients with safe housing, but just as importantly, tools and resources to help people move forward and gain confidence and independence,” says Christina Sleeper, who works as a Housing Advocate at The Way Home. “And our services extend to the whole family.”
In Tori’s case, The Way Home provided a safe and secure place to stay and educational programs for she and her son. Tori enrolled in a program called ‘Steps to Success’ which provides real world training and support to attendees – everything from how to cook and clean to organizing a check book, to adopting healthy behaviors and understanding one’s credit score. “Our goal is to provide our clients with a foundation from which they can grow and thrive,” Sleeper says.
“When I first came here, I was in a very bad place,” says Tori. “I didn’t want to leave the house, I was afraid to do anything. I kept asking myself ‘what did I do wrong?”
Sleeper says it is common for victims of abuse to blame themselves and that part of the program offered at The Way Home provides access to social services, counselors and therapists for those in need.
All the while Tori was attending the ‘Steps to Success’ program and getting access to other forms of support, her son was also on his journey to better health. In addition to counseling for his ADHD, Camren was getting tutoring help for school and a healthy dose of physical fitness through the Manchester Police Department’s PAL (Police Athletic League) program. At PAL, he is a member of the wrestling team and according to mom, “loves the competition and team aspect of the sport.”
Because of both programs, mom and son are now on a better path. Tori will graduate from the Transitional Living and “Steps to Success” program this spring and is planning a move for she and Camren to a new apartment; Camren is thriving as a grade-schooler at the Beech Street School. He is also part of a new program at The Way Home known as the Kidz Club, where children of clients engage in community activities around health, volunteering, reading, and school work.
And with an increase in confidence and self-esteem, Tori is contemplating her future with a new-found optimism. “Camren and I have come a long way thanks to the wonderful support we’ve gotten from the staff at The Way Home,” she says. “We still have some steps to take, but we are definitely headed in the right direction.”
About the Way Home
The Way Home, a non-profit dedicated to helping low-income households obtain and sustain safe, affordable housing throughout the state of New Hampshire. Since 1988, we have assisted more than 21,000 homeless and high-risk families, individuals, veterans and special needs clients with their housing needs.
Our Mission and Vision statements speak of creatively helping those with the fewest resources. When designing our programs, The Way Home looks first to empower our clients in need. Over the past 29 years, this has meant helping them increase their resourcefulness by providing more financial literacy classes, housing counseling and coaching, steps to success coaching, healthy home education, landlord/tenant rights and other life skills classes.
Our Vision is to continue as an innovative, grassroots organization committed to creatively helping those with the least resources increase access, raise hope, and build self-esteem. We believe in implementing a “housing first” approach, which provides secure housing with the support they need to make a difference in their lives. To learn more, please visit: www.thewayhomenh.org
