new hope pg 40,41,42,43,44.qxp_Layout 1 11/16/16 11:42 AM Page 2
S
tephen kicked his alcohol addiction and wanted a fresh start, but he didn’t know how or where to begin. He was with Star of Hope, a shelter for homeless people, where he received sobriety treatment, worked in the kitchen and even mentored other homeless individuals who wanted to rebuild their lives. He was on the right path and eager, almost desperate, for a new beginning, but he needed something that matched his new determination. He spent his nights at Star of Hope for nearly seven years before they paired him with New Hope Housing, a permanent affordable housing community serving homeless and at-risk individuals. Stephen is a resident at New Hope’s Rittenhouse apartment property, where he has lived since 2014. “I thank God for New Hope Housing because I was literally at my wits end. I was losing my mind,” Stephen said. “I was ready to give up.” Stephen’s addiction began when he was around 11 years old. He continued drinking throughout his adolescence and his adult years until he became a prisoner of addiction. The drinking pushed his daughter away and his wife to file for divorce. At the same time his father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and Stephen became his live-in caregiver. His father later passed away. He lost his family and he had nowhere to go, except to Star of Hope. “When I reached Star of Hope, I realized I had really messed up. Today I am seven years sober, straight,” Stephen said.
Stephen entered the transitional program at Star of Hope. He was finally on the right path, the path that eventually led him to his home at New Hope. “Now you’ll hear this often, but it works if you work it – the transitional program works, if you work it. So there are a lot of people who go through the program, who don’t work it. I worked it. I decided it was time for a change. I worked the program and the program worked me. I decided this has got to stop,” Stephen said. Not long after his arrival, Stephen knew New Hope was exactly the new beginning he yearned for. New Hope provided him a home, an opportunity to apply for a position at the front desk and most importantly, a newfound sense of dignity. “One thing that I think is really important about this New Hope concept, I want to emphasize is new hope, let’s not overlook that. These people come in here and they’re beat down, they’re beat up, they’re desperate. They come in here and I see so many come in here and they just break out smiling, laughing, they have, new hope,” Stephen said. “When you’re out there, you’re so preoccupied with surviving,” Stephen said about the contrast between living on the streets and living in a permanent home. “You come in here and there is hope – you can lay down, sleep, shower. It’s a starting block, it’s a new hope, it’s a new beginning for these people that come in here and say ‘Wow, I got another chance.’ And I’ll tell you, they appreciate it.”
After he moved in, Stephen applied and was hired by New Hope as the Rittenhouse front desk receptionist. Up until then, although he maintained his sobriety, he had been looking for a job for six years. “I was unemployable, as they say,” Stephen explained. He almost immediately became the go-to guy for residents who need someone who can relate to their struggle, mentor them or just offer an understanding ear. “It’s the peer-to-peer relationship that is so critical,” Nicole Cassier-Mason, vice president of fund development/communications, said. “Stephen can communicate and interact with residents differently than other staff can because they share common experiences.” New Hope offers a number of resident support services to help keep their residents on the right track and through engagement activities, a natural support system among residents develops. So much about New Hope speaks to the fact that it is so much more than an apartment building. New Hope drives change and improves quality of life, not just because it provides walls and a bed, but because of the environment it creates that is central to success and opportunity. “It has really, sincerely given me the opportunity to regroup my identity, my dignity, become more self-sufficient, more self-confident, become who I am and who I was meant to be. And as a result, I’m proud to give back. This operation saved me, and that is no exaggeration,” Stephen told me.
A resident in her SRO unit
The Rittenhouse outdoor courtyard
www.haaonline.org
December 2016
ABODE
41