My name is Yolanda and I came to Mary’s Shelter in August of 2008. I was renting a room from a family who asked me to leave with very little notice. I was four months pregnant at the time. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I was so scared. The father of the baby was not involved at all and my mother was living in an assisted living center. I had no one to go to for help. Being alone and four months pregnant was already scary but not having a place to live was overwhelming and really scary. There were moments I just didn’t want to exist anymore.
A friend of my mothers had said something about a good shelter that could help me, but I didn’t pay attention – I was too depressed. I just put the information in my purse and forgot about it. One day, desperate for help and a place to live, I found the piece of paper that was in my purse and low and behold it was the number of Mary’s Shelter.
I was scared to call at first, but I finally got up the courage and right away on the phone I felt encouraged. I scheduled a face to face interview with Dani. I didn’t know what to expect but once I got there, I was shocked to see how homey everything was – it didn’t look like "the shelters you picture in your mind." I didn’t have any prenatal care and I wasn’t working or going to school. I wasn’t doing anything, so I wasn’t sure they were going to like me. But Dani made me feel like I was important and like I could do anything if I just believed in myself and worked for it.
After I moved in, the staff at Mary’s Shelter forced me to open my eyes and start being independent. I focused on making a better future for me and my son. Of course there were times when things got tough and I felt overwhelmed by it all: the appointments, the chores, the classes and the different personalities. But I had to think about my son and so I did what I needed to do. I started going to Berks Technical Institute for the Medical Assistant training and started counseling and medication for my depression. Stacey even worked with me on budgeting and I’m almost done paying off some of my back bills. I had not been around a lot of babies, so the parenting classes were wonderful. My son Julius was born on January 17th.
So have I met my goals? ...school, paying off bills, getting over being afraid to cook and change diapers, becoming more independent – check, check, check and check! I’m so proud of myself and I am definitely more confident. I cannot thank Mary’s Shelter enough for helping me and my son. I love you all!