Decatur Cooperative Ministry

Success Stories

Although DCM carefully tracks numbers and outcomes, these statistics can never show the impact of our efforts. The true value of DCM’s ministry is found in the stories of families who have participated in our programs

Valda's Story

Downward Spiral

Valda moved to Atlanta in the summer of 2005 with her four children and a work-from-home job lined up. When that work started dwindling and her car broke down, she found herself in the downward spiral familiar to many DCM clients.

“We had gotten evicted from an apartment,” Valda recalls. “I was working from home as well as substitute teaching. The work-at-home position had started slowing down, so money, of course, decreased and the money as a substitute teacher was not sufficient enough to maintain our household expenses. I started getting behind with bills and rent and eventually got evicted. My car had broken down. We lived in an area with no transportation and I couldn't find a job within that area.”

Help and Hope

With the help of the Atlanta Union Mission, Valda and her children lived in a series of one-room hotels from week to week. After the help ran out, she applied to DCM’s Family Transitional Housing Program in February 2006, and in April moved into the Winn House, owned by North Decatur Presbyterian Church.

The Winn House offered Valda and her sons more than a roof over their heads. It gave them the support system they had been lacking, in the form of North Decatur Presbyterian Church and DCM, which Valda calls “family”. Winn House, “…gave me and my family a sense of peace, safety and comfort. We loved the neighborhood and the surrounding schools. The people were friendly. We were comfortable there.”

A New Home

Now Valda lives in a four-bedroom rental house in Covington that she hopes to own one day and is employed by the Georgia Department of Revenue, where she recently was promoted to tax examiner. But that didn't happen by magic.

“When I first spoke to Valda on the phone, she was mentally worn out, tired and ready to give up on her family,” says Christy Oraelosi, Family Transitional Housing Program Manager. “I knew that she really wanted the best for the boys but was having a hard time. I did interview her the same day and encouraged her to keep her head high with faith. The family successfully completed the program on April 11, 2008. There was a time in the program that she lost her job and was unable to secure another one for four months. It was a roller coaster and she never quit trying or got discouraged. Fran Mohr and Becki Veal on the Family House interview team made a big impact in encouraging Valda and praying for her. Valda Brown and her four boys are very respectful and grateful for the opportunity given to them.”

(Thanks to Scott Roberts for writing this story.)

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Sonoma's Story

A Long Journey

Before she found Hagar’s House, Sonoma Harper spent a week at the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless with her four young daughters. She had lost her job and, unable to pay her rent, was evicted from her apartment. That was in November. In January she started a new life at Glenhill house in Decatur, where she and her family will live rent-free until they can make the transition into stable housing.

That journey, from homelessness, to a week on a concrete floor, to two months in Hagar’s House, to a house of their own, is far from over. The goal of permanent housing requires budgeting, saving, and getting job training, all of which are happening now through DCM’s Transitional Family Housing program, or “Family House”.

The Family House Experience

“My decision to take Sonoma was simple,” says Christy Oraelosi, program manager for transitional housing at DCM. “I saw a person who wants to turn her life around and take care of her family. I saw a person who desperately wants to work again and earn money. I saw a person who wants a support system that will get her out of her situation. She is willing to do whatever it takes to be successful in life. She is willing and ready to take criticism and realistic direction to better herself and her family.”

Sonoma is now getting trained in the Childhood Development Accreditation program at Our House. She is paid a stipend to attend the classes and will be certified in June. Her daughters, ages 4-10, attend Decatur City Schools. She says they love their new home.

“I wasn't expecting a house,” she says. “I've got a nice, pretty, good-size house. My kids love it, I love it. I treat this house like it’s my own, clean it up, and make sure my kids do, too.”

She says Miss Christy is more than just a caseworker. She’s a friend, too, who regularly “…comes over to the house to drop off a care package or something.”

Road to Success

Sonoma defines herself as someone who is “willing to use opportunities to the fullest” and says that when she gets her day care worker certification in June she may help run a day care center with a friend. But she has also taken a test to be a correctional officer and continues to attend job fairs and stay open to all possibilities.

“She is doing everything possible to take full advantage of this second chance,” says Christy. “Sonoma is taking life one day at a time. I believe that she will be a success because she concentrates her effort and energy on what’s important. She focuses on her goals and the rules of the program, and is ready at all times to receive  good advice from me. She is very willing to be open for any opportunity to better herself and her family.”

(Thanks to Nancy Saltmarsh for writing this story.)

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