Enlly Gutierrez and her three kids (5, 3 and 2 years old) recently moved into their own apartment at our Vista Terrace complex, with only a few bags and boxes. Although the apartment was practically empty, they were so happy to have a place to call their own! One afternoon in May, they came home to a wonderful surprise. Kari Arendsen, and the staff at Intimate Living Interiors, collected donations from the community and furnished and decorated the apartment!
“On May 24, angels came to furnish our home when we had nothing, and left us speechless. We now have a place we can call home … it is a dream come true! The apartment looks beautiful and we will forever remember and cherish this day. We so appreciate the ladies at Intimate Living Interiors who helped our little family!”
Enlly joined Solutions for Change in September without her three kids. She was able to reunify with them in January. She currently works as a sales representative at Review Boost and will be getting her GED this month, and continuing school for property management. “Solutions for Change has given me confidence and shown me that I can accomplish so much by believing in myself!”
Founder’s story: A promise between families
In 1999, Chris and Tammy Megison were helping out at an emergency winter shelter with their two boys, when a 9 year old girl named Jessica pulled Chris’ sleeve and innocently asked, “Hey mister, do you live here too?” Chris looked at the girl and then over to her mother who was preparing a bed on the shelter floor. Chris got down on one knee, looking into the girl’s eyes, and said, “I don’t live here, sweetie, but my wife and I are going to do everything possible so that you, and your family, won’t have to live here too.”
The girl’s eyes welled with tears, and so did Chris’, and a vision was born—to solve family homelessness. This one night forever changed not only the lives of Jessica and her family, who solved their homelessness, but also the lives of over 2,200 other children and their parents who have since found their way here. Through this promise an imperative evolved that is known today as Solutions For Change.
http://solutionsforchange.org/
