John's Story
Help for a Grandpa who rescued his two grandsons ... MORE
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More Than Shelter
Sometimes when you look in a person's eyes you catch a glimpse of the difficulties they've been through in life. Tonya Williams is like that -- a guarded person when you first meet her, but when she and her son Frankie posed for this photo after telling her story, you could feel the warmth in her smile. Tonya is a survivor who can teach us all about getting life back on track even when things go terribly wrong.
If you could take away all the trouble in Tonya's past, what you have left is just a working mom who cares for her son -- and that's a lot.
"I've dealt with a long-time drug addiction, suffered from alcoholism and went through several treatment programs," says Tonya. "It wasn't a good way to live -- I wasn't raised like that. The turning point for me was prison. When I got out, even though I was sober, it wasn't long before I found myself without a home. Things looked pretty bad, but I turned to University Settlement, and they helped me and my son Frankie."
While Tonya was in prison, her mother, Beatrice, took care of Frankie. When Tonya was released, she and Frankie ended up living temporarily with her sister because they had no home to call their own.
Intervention
"When I came to University Settlement," says Tonya, "I needed an intervention, and they were there with all the services that gave structure to my life and the help I needed to get a decent home for Frankie and me."
Stacey Ferguson, transitional housing supervisor at University Settlement, encouraged Tonya to participate in the agency's Tapestry program, a multi-service approach that included transitional housing assistance, AA meetings for Tonya and educational help for Frankie, who has a mild learning disability.
Stacey has been with University Settlement for the past three years. She has a genuine passion for her work, having spent the past 10 years in the social services field. A pastor's daughter, Stacey grew up with a strong tradition of service to others.
Tonya says, "Stacey has been like another parent to Frankie, advocating for him to make sure his special education needs are met." Frankie receives the tutoring he needs in high school, and last year took part in summer camp at the Settlement, including field trips, swimming and other activities with over 50 other kids in the program. He likes science, social studies and computers, and plays basketball.
Moving Up -- Not Away
Tonya found a job early last year, and she and Frankie moved out of the Settlement's transitional housing in October 2006 into a house with an option to buy. Tonya says it's a wonderful home. She's also been able to return to a favorite pastime -- singing with her mother in a gospel group called the Golden Harmonettes.
One of the objectives of University Settlement's transitional housing program is to keep clients in the neighborhood so that their children can benefit from the stability of not having to move from school to school when housing opportunities arise. Tonya valued the effort made by the Settlement to find her permanent housing in the Broadway community, and has stayed in the area.
"Tonya has been through a lot in life," says Stacey. "She gives us a lot of credit for helping her, but without her determination and follow-through, none of her progress would have been possible. She's a '24/7' parent, and I'm really proud of her."
University Settlement's transitional housing program was established in 1990 to move families from homelessness to permanent, affordable housing. The Settlement currently owns 23 housing units that are used to house homeless families. The program allows clients to stay in the housing for up to 24 months. Program objectives are to increase the client's ability to successfully obtain permanent, affordable housing, to educate them about life skills necessary for self-sufficiency and to assist them in attaining full-time employment. For more information, call (216) 641-8948 or visit www.universitysettlement.net.
United Way of Greater Cleveland funds University Settlement's transitional housing program, as well as nearly 180 other health and human service programs helping more than 400,000 people in our community each year. To find out how you can help the United Way of Greater Cleveland 2007 Campaign, call 216-436-2100 or donate online now.
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