Mother Faces Challenges with Faith and a Smile

In 2010, Keyla and her family, husband James and two young sons, were doing fine. Both parents had jobs, they were living in a small apartment and Keyla was pregnant with a third child. They made arrangements to move to a larger apartment, but when they met with the landlord and he found out she was pregnant, he would not let them sign the lease.

Having nowhere to go when their current lease was up, they turned to Keyla’s aunt, who lives in a community that limited overnight guests.

They were there for about one month when they had to move out. James needed to be close to his job—he did not have a driver’s license at the time and they had only one vehicle. The family then moved into a hotel.

This family, went from living a normal happy life as a two income family, to a family unable to find an affordable home for their growing family of five. Keyla would have to stop working for a while to have the baby and they could not keep spending money to live in a hotel.

Checking resources for help, they turned to Keystone Opportunity Center and the Interfaith Hospitality Network to see if they could find temporary help until after the baby arrived they could find an apartment.
As Keyla’s due date neared, they reached out to Keystone again and were able to become participants.

While in the IHN program, Keyla gave birth to their third son. The family was accepted into Keystone’s transitional housing program within two months and has made great strides at meeting their goals. James acquired a driver’s license, taking his test in his case manager’s car and Keyla completed her training to become a registered nurse while working, taking care of her three sons. We celebrated her spring graduation with her.

She took her nursing board exam in July and started a job as an RN. We hope that the family will soon be able to graduate from our Transitional Housing program and move into a home of their own.