SUCCESS STORY
Jenny and Wellspring Living
Jenny, a Georgia native, has seen the ugly truths of what living on the streets, being homeless, and having to survive one day at a time looks like. Despite the many barriers and struggles, Jenny has experienced in her life, at 18, she came to WellspringLiving’s Women’s Residential Program-Southmotivated to reach her goals and succeed. When Jenny arrived she was quiet and reserved, but very observant. Slowly, she began trusting staff and befriending the other participants. Jenny said from the beginning that she wanted to make the most out of her time in the program. Over several months, the staff saw her flourish in her communication, work through her trauma in therapy, and become the best version of herself. Even though she had hard work todo, Jenny was consistent with engaging in programming and attending school and life skills groups. She shared that she enjoyed therapy and being free from some of the pain she had experienced. Jenny started to understand her worth and use her voice more often. She grew stronger each day. Jenny’s graduation from the program was certainly exciting as it was also a celebration of her GED completion and her nineteenth birthday! In her graduation speech, she encouraged the other participants to persevere. She reflected that there were times that she wanted to give up but she pushed forward and succeeded! She was smiling and glowing with pride! Jenny was recently accepted into another program where she has her own apartment in the community. Through another partnership, Jenny will also have opportunities for a living wage job placement based on her interests, skills, and experience. Jenny will work towards saving money for her own apartment, learn to drive, purchase a car, and begin pursuing her dream of opening her own business in the wedding industry.