ROCKPORT — This winter, while Hospitality House on Old County Road in Rockport was closed, the Knox County Homeless Coalition collaborated to provide resources for families that were homeless. The goal was to promote and encourage self-sufficiency, and Coalition members brought resources to the families to help them achieve that goal. With permission, we are pleased to share a story of one of those families.

Susan is a 23-year-old single mother with an infant son in need of medical attention. Soon after she began the intake process at Penquis CAP, she broke down. She felt desperate and lost and told a story of a rough road to homelessness. She had little hope as she had no home, a son in need of surgery because he had been born with his intestines outside his body, and had lost her Temporary Assistance for Needy Familes and MaineCare benefits. She was asking for help of any kind.

The Knox County Homeless Coalition has a grant that enables the Coalition to work with people in the community in need of housing. The grant allowed us to provide case management and we created a program called "Shelter Without Walls." Susan entered this program, and we worked with her to identify the barriers that led to her being homeless.

The Coalition's pilot program gave Susan hope. She had not completed her education and so she entered the adult education program in Rockland and began work on earning her GED diploma.

Through the support of Knox Interfaith Teen Safehaven, a member of the Coalition, she was able to have her car repaired and gasoline supplied, which allowed her to transport her son to Portland for his needed surgery.

Soon after this, Susan was accepted back in the TANF and MaineCare programs, and was later approved for a Section 8 housing voucher. This allowed her to find an affordable place, and she and her son are now living in their own home.

Last month, after working diligently, Susan received her GED diploma. She has applied for college at the University of Augusta at URock in Rockland.

All of this happened in five months' time. No wonder she was beaming when she recently returned to the Penquis CAP office with her healthy and energetic son.