When Portia, a medical assistant and single mother, faced homelessness she did all that she could to provide for her older son, and his soon-to-be born brother Christian. When Christian was born, they were in a family shelter and soon found out he had a positive diagnosis of Down Syndrome. Portia pushed herself back into the workforce only two months after his birth, working hard to get her boys out of shelter and into a home of their own.

When Horizons came into the picture, Portia had the support she needed from her Family Advocate Elvia to get her life on track. She had peace of mind knowing her infant son was in safe hands at the Horizons Early Education Center, where he received nurturing and loving care. At Horizons, our Family Partnership Program is designed to support parents experiencing homelessness as they set goals and take steps forward for their family’s future. Portia’s Family Advocate helped her secure housing for her and her two boys and kept her accountable towards her ambitions. Since joining Horizons’ program, Portia began taking prerequisites for a nursing program to further her career and their new apartment is a warm and welcoming place where she can support her older son with virtual school work. Her younger son continues to achieve his milestones in Horizons’ classrooms and has lots of space to crawl and play in their new home.

“It was all for the help and support of Horizons, they really went above and beyond to make sure I achieved my goals of going back to school and supporting my boys the best way I could. I can’t emphasize enough – they gave me the right amount of support and the kind of support I needed.”