Sitting across the kitchen table from a 35 year old single mom, staff from the CenterPoint Office asked the question of how her participation in the Shelter Plus Care program had made a difference in her life. Her answer came quickly. "I love my life!" she said, "I have a comfortable home for myself and my son and I have hope for the future."

Amanda, a participant in the Shelter Plus Care program, one of U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Homeless programs, since May of 2004, has only recently come to the place where she has found hope. For many years, she struggled to find a reason to live and became deeply immersed in drug and alcohol use, trying to dull the physical and emotional pain she felt. She began using alcohol and marijuana at age 13 and continued to use drugs heavily for the next nineteen years. In 1992, she was involved in an automobile accident in which her boyfriend was killed and she was seriously injured.

For years after the automobile accident, Amanda suffered from constant neck pain as well as suffering from serious bouts of depression due to the memories associated with the death of her boyfriend. Early in 2003, she had surgery to attempt to find relief from her neck pain but due to high medical bills she was forced financially to sell the home she had recently bought and she moved in with her mother. By that time, she had a seven year old son who had a great deal of difficulty in making the adjustment of moving in with his grandmother. Behavioral problems on the part of the child began to create havoc within Amanda's life adding to the challenges she was facing.

With the assistance of the WISH program (Women and Infants Service for Health), Amanda was placed on the wait list for the Shelter Plus Care program during 2003 and by May, 2004 she was accepted into the program and was able to move into her own apartment. She now lives in a quiet neighborhood near her son's school. She has been clean from drugs for nearly three years and receives on-going support from case management, Narcotics Anonymous, and the Carolina Pain Institute. She and her son participate in various YMCA programs as well as receiving services from community mental health. Amanda is receiving full disability as a result of her neck injury as well as receiving food stamps and other assistance through the Department of Social Services.

Although battling with frequent neck pain, Amanda says she no longer feels tempted to use drugs as a way to hide from life's challenges. "I love my life, my son and my home," she says, "And I am deeply grateful for the help I have received through the Shelter Plus Care program and the many community supports made available to me and my son."

When Amanda was asked what she hopes for in the future, she said that one day she wants to be able to buy a home at the beach. "When my son is away at college," she said, "I want him to be able to come home and visit me near the ocean, a place that we both love." Too big a dream?..I don't think so! Amanda will make it happen!