Five months ago this beautiful young single mom of a darling two year old girl was homeless. After having spent much of her childhood in foster homes, she aged out of the system with no family and no support system, forcing her to spend the past three years on friends couches, chasing down relatives who should have cared, or staying in various homeless shelters. In August she had run out of options and realizing she may be on the street with her two year old daughter she turned to Safe Families for help. That is when we got the call from the Child Abuse Prevention Council asking us to house her little girl for an extended time period until she could stabilize her life situation.
We chose not only to embrace and open up our hearts and home to two year old Rosie but to come along side and help her mother, Megan as well. In the five months we have counseled, mentored and loved her she:
- ended a destructive relationship that was mentally abusive and controlling
- enrolled in school to finish her high school diploma (and has perfect attendance!)
- just began to work and received her first paycheck today
- opened a bank account for the first time and is learning to have a budget
- passed her written drivers test and is learning to drive
- recommitted her life to the Lord and got baptized
- has been attending church regularly
- is learning positive parenting skills and what family life should really look like
- AND has gone from homelessness to a shelter to a transitional living home and is now ready to rent a room and begin the path to full independence!
Yes, beginning February 1st she will be renting a room from a strong Christian young lady who will be able to mentor her and provide a loving stable environment for her to continue to grow. She also will be able to move in for a fraction of the cost and then increase her contribution incrementally as her income stabilizes with the goal of being able to carry the full responsibility for half the expense within a year! It is very exciting to see what being connected to a family and community can do in such a short period of time.
Most of us can remember our first step “out of the nest” to live on our own…whether that was as a college student, moving out with friends to share a house or apartment or perhaps to get married. It was exciting, fun and a bit scary all at the same time, not too mention financially challenging as we had to purchase things that we had often taken for granted in our homes growing up – everything from bedding to kitchen appliances to toilet paper & light bulbs. The wonderful thing for most of us is that we had parents, family and friends to help ease the financial burden by purchasing items for us and even throwing a household gift giving party to allow our community of friends to bless us!
Now stop and think about how hard that would be with no family or community to help you? No parents, grandparents, siblings or even friends who were there for you to give you a helping hand and bless you in this way. Most of us cannot even picture what it would’ve been like to walk through these milestones without family or support. Yet, that is exactly this young single mom’s situation and this is where we can all step in and become her extended family. We have already asked her local church, Lakeview Assembly to help and they graciously offered assistance with a deposit, the Safe Families organization (http://www.safe-families.org/) is purchasing her a bed, the local network at First Baptist in Lodi may provide a dresser and the Mary Graham Foundation was able to get some lamps and end table donated!
Now it’s our turn to help! It’s our turn to be a blessing! It’s our turn to be the family that she never had!
Here are some ideas for you:
- Gift Cards to – Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, Home Goods or even a Visa gift card
- Personal care items – shampoo/conditioner, body soap, face wash, razors, toothpaste/toothbrush, feminine products, cotton balls, q-tips (all of these types of things were provided for her in some way at the transitional living shelter she was living in)…oh and a hair dryer!
- Laundry supplies – basket, detergent, softener, dryer sheets, lint brush, quarters for machines
- Miscellaneous items that we take for granted – clothes hangers, toilet paper, personal room trashcan, light bulbs, bathroom drawer organizers, hand soap
- Bedding – mattress pad, sheets, comforter, pillows, blanket, bath towels (contact me for her preferred color preferences or see registry link below.)
She and her future roommate/mentor, Tiffana, who is also moving out on her own for the first time have registered for items they will both need (ie: kitchen supplies, dining, bathroom hardware, cleaning equipment & appliances) at Bed Bath & Beyond. This registry can be purchased from directly and sent to you or to our home if that is more convenient OR it can simply be used to get an idea of their needs and desires which could be purchased elsewhere or even donated if you have these items in good condition. (many of the more expensive items were listed just to give you an idea of color preference not quality needed.) Here is the link for the registry – http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/giftregistry/view_registry_guest.jsp?registryId=541879568&eventType=Housewarming&pwsurl=
And what is a achieving a milestone without a celebration?? (Doesn’t happen without a celebration in my family!) So we are having a housewarming blessing celebration for both Megan and Tiffana where you can come and bring your gifts and your love to shower upon them both! We’d love to have you stop by for a moment or hang out for a time of celebrating and praying for this great God inspired adventure!
If you can’t attend the celebration….you can send cards, gift cards, gifts or greetings to our home at:
313 West Robinhood Dr
Stockton, CA 95207
Another option if you want to make a financial donation you can send it via paypal – inspire@bethlambdin.net or at this link https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=EBKMQ5F9Q3FJ6 – and we will be sure she gets it!
I’m so excited to see the outpouring of support for Megan as she realizes that she has an extended family and friends all over our city and country who want to love, support and bless her just as if she were their very own daughter, sister, cousin, niece or granddaughter! (Because according to the Word of God we are all family)
And I promise to share the outpouring of blessing & celebration with you all via photos so that we can rejoice together in the great thing God has done!
Let’s do this!
Inspire Ministries 