"Jenny" A Miracle on the Other End of the Phone

HRS Team

2 hours ago

3 min read

One year ago, Jenny was running out of options.

She and her two children, an older son and a younger daughter, were experiencing homelessness. They moved between hotels and motels while Jenny desperately searched for a permanent place for her family to call home. Her savings were quickly disappearing, and with poor credit, finding an apartment felt nearly impossible.

Jenny began calling shelters and programs, hoping someone could help. Again and again, she heard that there was no room or that she should call back another week.

But Jenny didn’t have another week.

“I was so desperate and disappointed,” she remembers. “I have two kids, and I was thinking, ‘I’m letting them down. What am I doing? What’s happening?’”

Then Jenny called House of Refuge Sunnyslope. Suzanna answered.

Jenny still describes that phone call as a miracle. She was invited to come in for an initial intake, and soon, she and her children had a safe place to stay and an opportunity to begin rebuilding their lives.

At first, adjusting to the structure of the program wasn’t easy. There were curfews, classes, routines, and expectations. But Jenny quickly began to see how much her family needed that consistency.

“When you have kids, you need that structure. You need that routine,” she says.

Over time, Jenny found much more than structure. She found a community of women who understood what it meant to face difficult circumstances and begin again. She learned from teachers, built relationships, and discovered a deeper sense of gratitude.

Recently, Jenny found herself reminding her children just how far they had come.

“Remember us last year,” she told them. “We were living in one hotel room. It was just two twin beds. We didn’t know what to do. We were all stuck in a room, and we had nobody else.”

Today, their lives look very different.

For Jenny, one of the most unexpected parts of her journey was the impact of the faith-based programming. Coming from a non-Christian background, she had never been closely connected to Christianity. Through Bible study, she began exploring faith in a way she never had before.

“It opened my eyes,” Jenny says. “I’m still on my journey, but I believe in the power of prayer. I believe in God and walking in His path. I think that was what my life needed.”

One lesson in particular stayed with her. It was a conversation about shame and forgiveness.

For years, Jenny had carried feelings that she wasn’t good enough and wondered whether God would even want to hear her prayers. Learning about the love and forgiveness of Jesus began to change the way she saw herself and her relationship with God.

“Hearing those words was what I needed,” she says. “It just opened my heart.”

As Jenny reflects on the past year, she believes that coming to House of Refuge Sunnyslope had a profound impact, not only on her life, but on the lives of her children.

Now, the family is preparing for an exciting new chapter.

Jenny has found a three-bedroom apartment near her children’s school, allowing them to remain in the community and school they know. Her children are excited to move into their new home, and Jenny is looking toward her own future, too.

While working full-time as a behavior technician supporting children with autism, Jenny plans to return to college and finish the degree she once started. Her goal is to continue her education and eventually become a behavior analyst.

A year ago, Jenny was wondering where her family would go next.

Today, she is preparing to move her children into a home of their own. She is continuing to build her career, planning to finish her education, and growing in the faith that has become an important part of her journey.