Her mother's death in 1996 was a wake-up call for Denise McDonald. "I had been living with my mother, unemployed and been a practicing addict for four years." When my mother died, I realized I was on my way to homelessness.

The road to homelessness had been preceded by a very different lifestyle. Denise had married her high school sweetheart and was living a middle-class lifestyle. She was a good mother to two children, a homeowner and a car owner.

When Denise begins missing time from her job, she realized her recreational drug use was slowly destroying her life. Her separation from her husband, who took custody of her son and daughter, further signaled her decline.

Following her mother's death, Denise began her recovery, spending six months at the Safe House in Baltimore, prior to finding the Women's Housing Coalition. This is when she took steps to really put her life back together again. At the WHC, Denise worked on setting goals and with much hard work, got her first job placement at the Omni Hotel in downtown Baltimore as a full-time administrative assistant.

Denise celebrates over 4 years of sobriety and in September 1998, became one of the first WHC clients to participate in the Family Program. Sadly, her son, who suffered from multiple sclerosis, became gravely ill and died before having the opportunity to reunite with his mother in Baltimore. Denise currently lives in an apartment that WHC helped her furnish, is saving money, and is reunited with her daughter.

Denise says, "Every time I walk in the door I thank God. The WHC has changed my life and I will always be grateful."

A Study of Determination

"The WHC has been my foundation, my backbone and my family. It is difficult to lose such strong support."

Joan Faulkner is a woman who has set concrete goals and has worked every day to achieve them. Her road to the WHC began in the Baltimore City Detention Center, where her caseworker then referred her to the Safe House in Baltimore City to begin her recovery from addiction. After successfully completing that program, she was referred to the WHC's Transitional Housing Program (THP).

It was there that she worked with her counselors to develop some personal goals that she would set out to achieve. One of her priorities was to reunite with her family who she had been separated from due to her addiction. Joan had to work everyday to maintain her recovery from addiction. She had to find employment to help support her family, and to continue her education.

During her stay in the WHC Transitional Program, Joan found work doing telemarketing. Also, through a collaborative program between the WHC and UMBC, Joan was offered a scholarship to pursue A+ certification that would allow her entry into the field of computer technology. Joan accepted this opportunity and worked extremely hard to make sure she was successful for herself and her family. She has passed certification exams and is now qualified to work on Microsoft computer systems.

Because of her past criminal history Joan has found it difficult to obtain work in her field. She has found other work, and also applied to the Governor's office to have her record expunged. The WHC counselors have no doubt that Joan will work to overcome any barriers she is confronted with in her journey to regain her life and contribute back to the community.