Tammy's Story

When I came to Transition House my life was falling apart.

 I had triePhoto of Woman 2004 Cardd as hard as I could to keep my family together but it was too late. I had made it through three years of school at Santa Barbara City College, even received my A.A. degree, but after school ended, a medical problem in my family made it increasingly impossible for me to care for my children. The worst part was, instead of finding productive solutions to our problems, I turned my despair inward and began to follow a self-destructive path of substance abuse and depression.
    

My name is Tammy and I’m a single mom with three children. One of my children has medical needs that made our life even more challenging. For a while, I didn’t think we would make it. I tried to be a good provider, working while pursuing my B.A. degree. However, doing it all while raising a special needs child soon became impossible. I found I was unable to manage finding treatment for my child while simultaneously supporting my family. I couldn’t work, and the public assistance we qualified for was not enough to feed us and pay for an apartment, too. 
    

Somewhere deep inside, I realized I couldn’t care for my kids if I didn’t take care of myself. I made a lifetime commitment to sobriety but we still lost our apartment one year ago. It was then that I learned about Transition House.
    

My case manager helped me cope with my problems and encouraged me to continue my recovery work. I took parenting and career development classes and went out to look for a job. Despite my success, I couldn’t begin to believe things would be okay until my child’s medical problems were under control. Unlike my previous landlord and others, Transition House accepted my child’s challenges and together we found ways to manage them.
    

Now, all three of my children are thriving! I have been working for a local retailer and am shooting for a promotion. I’ve also requested my transcripts and hope to start night school to finish my bachelor’s degree in the spring. 
    

I’ve learned that without support, something like a medical problem can ruin a family. In some ways the system failed us—but Transition House didn’t. I’ve lived in Santa Barbara most of my life and I know how many people it takes to keep Transition House going.  Thank you on behalf of my children for being our support system. Now I can focus on being the parent I’ve always wanted to be.
Woman and Children 2004 CardTammy, Leana, Gabe and Tori

Read the Rest of Lucia's Story!

 

After a week in the hospital and a stay in a domestic violence shelter, I took my children and moved in with my parents. I was depressed and scared—I had little work experience and was broke. My parents helped as much as they could but we couldn’t go on living with them forever. 

That is when we found Transition House. In November of 2008, my kids and I entered the shelter. Thankfully, the staff and volunteers understood that I needed to focus on counseling for my kids and myself. Finally, my husband was sentenced to 15 years in prison. I didn’t have to live in fear anymore. My life began again, but it was beginning in a shelter with no way to support myself. 

I could have lost hope—I think many times I did—but Transition House was willing to invest in me. If their program was only a short shelter stay, I wouldn’t have made it. But their long-term program gave me the time to work through this tragedy and begin to focus on myself and my kids and how we would support ourselves. 

In those first few months at the shelter, I found part-time work cleaning the houses of others. I knew this wouldn’t be enough to become completely independent, but I had to start somewhere. My case manager helped me design business cards and pick up more work. We also worked on a spending plan and I saved every dollar I could. 

Transition House knew that my family needed more time than other families to put things back together again so they gave me an extension in the shelter. Then they allowed us to move to the second stage, Firehouse. Instead of looking at my past as a stay-at-home mom as a failure, they looked at how that experience and my skills could be used to earn a living.

The thing I did best was to care for others.I took that skill and turned it into a job. I found work doing home care through a local agency and now I have a client I work for regularly. 

Ultimately, I want to complete a degree as a Certified Nursing Assistant. My case manager and I think this is a good idea—there is a great need for CNAs. In order to complete the program, I am working on perfecting my English by taking classes in ESL at both Transition House and at the local high school.

With the increase in my income and a solid plan for the future, I qualified to move into one of Transition House’s apartments. Now that we have our own place, my kids and I can truly let go of the past. We’ve found hope again—our lives are not over.

It will take me time to achieve my goals and thankfully, Transition House is giving me that time. My savings are growing and I have peace of mind seeing my kids do well in school and knowing I can keep a roof over our heads.

I still have the support of my parents but I also have the support of a huge family—that is my case manager and all the staff at Transition House. And everyone in Santa Barbara who supports them.

Thank you for helping Transition House—you have given me and my children back our lives!

*Because of the nature of Lucia's story, her and her children's names have been changed and no photos have been included.

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